One of the biggest debates that has arisen in the suggestion of a hip-hop influenced classroom is the idea that students of other races besides African-American will not or do not understand the culture. Granted, there could be many students that do not understand the culture and are merely imitating it because it is the popular culture of the day. However, a large number of students (again, especially in urban settings) live the same lifestyle and experience the same hardships that many rappers and hip-hop artists speak of in their songs. Today’s students are growing up almost immersed in this culture. For those of us that are college students, we have grown up with rap music and the hip-hop industry. So, in this way we identify with our future students because (at least some of us) share the same likes and dislikes of this music. In one article that I read, a teacher discusses the drawbacks to students adopting this culture without fully understanding the meaning behind it. One of her students, an Afghan girl named Fareeba, quickly assimilated into the culture but did not comprehend what her actions and speech meant when she did so. She changed her clothing style and attitude to match that of the popular culture she was now thrown into when she moved to New York. Fareeba even got herself into trouble for plajarizing an assignment because she wanted to belong to her new culture so badly; that is, she had learned that getting into trouble and “being bad” was a good thing and that her new “hard” attitude was how she was supposed to act. Her prideful attitude would not allow her to seek help from her teacher. This “I don’t need you” stance and refusal of help by students is prevalent in classrooms across America; one could argue that this stems from hip-hop culture, which prides itself on rising above “the school of hard-knocks” and achieving success on one’s own.
However, there is a fine line between imitating hip-hop culture (and all that entails) without knowing what it all means exactly to berating it and making fun of hip-hop’s attributes without understanding. In yet another article, the author comments on the rising amount of U.S. college students mocking hip-hop culture by having “gangsta” theme parties on their campuses. At these parties, students dress in what they believe is hip-hop fashion and portray both men and women of hip-hop in a negative light. These students act and dress in the stereotype of hip-hop or rap music, mocking it. Girls are skantily clad and pad their jeans to have a “ghetto booty.” Males wear wifebeaters (men’s undershirts) and huge baggy pants. Both sexes strike intimidating poses, complete with flashing gang signs and lots of fake bling-bling or ice (large necklaces with pendants, huge fake diamond earrings, etc.). Much of this hip-hop culture’s celebration of over-the-top jewelry and expensive cars, amongst other things is just that: a celebration. These people are celebrating their success and flaunting it for the world to see. These kids do not realize that they are being racially offensive by mocking what they think they understand but do not really know fully. They think nothing of it. The sad thing is, this misunderstanding of culture is largely due to students’ belief that racism no longer exists. But in a way, they are changing racism to a subtle form of mocking, yet this imitation also recognizes that hip-hop is a force to be reckoned with. One professor, James Johnson, had an interesting point: “In the civil rights movement, you didn’t have blacks who called themselves ‘niggers’ and who called their women ‘bitches’ and ‘whores’ and who glorified being violent and being thugs. Now these white kids are kind of confused.”
So what are we to make of all of this? Hip-hop’s influence is a powerful one, but before its use in the classroom a short lesson on its history would prove helpful.
New York Times Article
February 1, 2007.
I completely agree with you! I think that hip-hop is something that every teacher should seek to understand as much as possible. It is definitely here to stay and treating it like it doesn’t belong in the academic setting will only alienate many of our future students. However, I identify with people who may be unsure of what is o.k. or not o.k. to say about it. While i would never go to one of those parties you talk about (and i certainly don’t think its ok) it can be hard for people outside the culture to tell whats open to everyone and what isn’t. Its a fine line between being involved in what your students are interested in, and barging in on something that has nothing to do with you. i feel that the academic things i’ve learned about AAE have helped me understand how better to approach issues like that in my future classrooms. With a resectful interest, but also some distance.