TikTok users are a menace to society. I refuse to download the app.
The presence of the Chinese Communist Party and Latin American drug cartels are bad enough, but the popular social media platform also features a cavalcade of inane, so-called “influencers” who spread superficial stupidity.
Now, the dreaded plague of influencers has made its way to cemeteries throughout the country, as these influencers, for whatever reason, have decided that famous dead people need to “hear” modern rap songs.
According to Insider, a small trend apparently started with user @yungsmiley1, whose account no longer appears to exist. However, there is a Twitter post of the rapper performing “Saks! 2” in front of legendary author Mark Twain’s grave.
RIP mark twain you would’ve loved saks 2 by yung smiley pic.twitter.com/t0ds6nprlr
— philadelphia excellence (@thebigkhalifa) August 1, 2021
However, 24-year-old Benjamin Raab, who goes by the name of @theboyraabit01 on TikTok, really got the trend going when he performed Soulja Boy’s “Rick and Morty” in front of what he claimed to be the grave of Woodrow Wilson, the nation’s 28th president.
Raab is 24; shouldn’t he have a job?
While the irony of a song by Soulja Boy, an African-American man, being “performed” at the gravesite of one of the most racist presidents in American history would be palpable, there’s no point in doing any of this nonsense — and it wasn’t even Woodrow Wilson’s grave.
That’s right. The grave was in Michigan. Wilson is entombed in the Washington National Cathedral in the nation’s capital. The grave in Michigan just happened to belong to somebody else named Wilson.
While my personal preference would be to never give TikTok extra clicks, it is my duty to give readers as much information as I can, so here it is. Brace yourselves for 12 seconds of pain:
The video was liked or shared millions of times, and now other TikTok users are doing the same thing, which Insider also included.
One person filmed a video at the gravesite of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America. Another performed in front of a houseplant. A third group decided the ruins of the city of Pompeii needed to hear “Rick and Morty” as well.
I love visiting cemeteries and the ruins of ancient sites.
I love the history contained within, and the stories of the past they tell. Visiting a cemetery is always a moving and solemn experience for me, and no matter the mistakes a person made or the crimes they committed, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for at least a little respect for the dead.
I have to reiterate: What is the point of all this? It just boggles my mind.
Fortunately, it appears I’m not alone.
While Raab insisted to Insider that most of the feedback he received has been positive, he did acknowledge there has been some pushback. I have a feeling there was quite a bit more pushback than he’s letting on.
I hope someone or something ends this trend. Everything I read about TikTok just makes me dislike it more and more.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
