The Rap On Rap In School English Classes

“Since his death eight years ago, there has been a stampede to include Tupac Shakur on American college syllabuses: not just the “we take anyone” community colleges, but institutions such as Harvard and Dartmouth solemnly cogitate on the inner meaning of Tupac’s lyrics and the printed volume of his verse, The Rose that Grew from Concrete. Universities can get away with putting Hit ‘Em Up alongside Othello. Undergraduates are adults; school pupils are not. A huge fuss has been kicked up this year since education authorities put The Rose that Grew from Concrete on summer readingsyllabuses for sixth- and seventh-grade children.”