NY Times contest cites student essay on rap music

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Jack Zuckerman’s 450 word persuasive essay on the importance of teaching rap music in schools was one of  a record-breaking 7,895 entries in The New York Times’ Fourth Annual Student Editorial Contest. That’s stiff competition, but the rising sophomore was pleased to discover he earned one of 45 honorable mentions. Congrats, Jack! There were 10 winners and 15 runners-up. You can read Jack’s essay below the Q &A.
Jack Zuckerman
We caught up with Jack in his hometown Manheim Township near Lancaster, PA, where he’s been working this summer at a minor league baseball stadium. He plans to double-major in film studies and business, possibly marketing.
Q: Were you surprised when you received the NY Times Contest honorable mention?I was definitely surprised, especially because they didn’t send out emails. I found out while I was scanning the titles of recognized essays and saw my own at the bottom.
Q: Which artists would you feature in a course on rap?At least one from every major area in rap music, so maybe Tupac for the West Coast, Nas for the East Coast, OutKast for the South, and then an artist not necessarily affiliated with a geographical movement like MF Doom.
Q: Are you going to try to get into Prof. Jeffrey McCune’s  Kanye West course next year? [McCune is associate professor of women, gender and sexuality studies and African and African-American studies at WashU. He teaches “The Politics of Kanye West: Black Genius and Sonic Aesthetics.” ]Definitely, but “try” is the key word there.
Q: What are you looking forward to when you return to campus?I’m mostly looking forward to seeing my friends and getting more involved with my activities on campus.
Here’s the editorial Jack submitted to The New York Times contest:We Should be Teaching Rap Music in SchoolsI didn’t understand Toni Morrison ...

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