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More from "One of the Most Wide-Ranging Intellectuals in America"

By KC Johnson

In 1993, Terry Teachout penned a brutal review of Houston Baker?s then-most recent book. ?The argument of Black Studies, Rap, and the Academy,? noted Teachout, ?can be summed up briefly: (1) Black studies is an indispensable part of American higher education. (2) Rap is a creative and authentic expression of the urban black experience and should thus be taken seriously by academics, particularly those working in the field of black studies. (3) Anyone who disagrees with (1) or (2) is a racist.? Baker?s views on rap? ?They are, controlling for polysyllables, mostly indistinguishable from those of the average thirteen-year-old, and are in any case asserted rather than demonstrated.? The book itself, according to Teachout, was ?a veritable omnium gatherum of latter-day academic clichés??characterized by rampant errors (Baker misspelled the names of S...continue to full post

Full post as published by Durham-in-Wonderland on April 20, 2008 (boomark / email).