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Dragging Culture

As defined by TheBLACKMedia, Dragging Culture is an unspoken derogative unifier, usually taking place via social media platforms consisting of death threats, racial, and sexual bashing, name calling, and highly opinionated reasoning with laissez-faire fact finding under the auspices that because it’s on social media it’s justified.

Recently R&B singer Tyrese Gibson broke down on video about possibly losing his daughter Shayla and many took to that dragging culture to responsd. While many may not agree, Tyrese’s public breakdown isn’t means for social media users to judge or poke fun at. Tyrese has been a celebrity for many years and is aware of the culture that comes along with it, however, when do we start holding ourselves and each other accountable for degradation, especially in the face of an obvious call for help?

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What It Means To Be Desensitized:

The dictionary defines being desensitized as feeling less shock in the face of violence or cruelty, and we agree. An addition to the dragging culture, “I’m just here for the comments” is what’s helping to blur our reality when it comes to pure cruelty. Inherently, Human responses to seeing cruelty triggers emotions surrounding anxiety, but when those emotions are desensitized, we tend to crave cruelty, and the way reading, and watching it makes us feel. Many laugh, smile, share, and fuel from seeing this via social media, which is an unnatural state of feeling.

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Azealia Banks Intellectual Interview

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Grammy winner Chrisette Michele recently made headlines for sharing her depression and suicidal thoughts after her 2017 inaugural performance. After her performance Many “dragged” Chrisette, which lead to her losing her record deal, and wanting to kill herself. You’d think sharing this fact after months of a low profile would render understanding, instead, because of the dragging culture, a large amount of desensitized aggression and degradation overwhelmed the media. Even Brandon Sessoms of Love B Scott rumor and gossip blog hit a low point by calling the Grammy award winning singer the “trump inauguration performer” as if that one performance erases her 10 years of Black expression. It doesn’t. We shouldn’t throw our people away we should hold each other accountable, and forgive.

Where Is The UNITY?

Often complained about in the Afrikan American community is lack of unity. Although the latter is simply untrue, the ideology however is what should be explored. Afrikan Americans historically are the only group of people known to consistently support each other and get each other out of hardship like slavery, poverty, jim crow, business, etc. What people mean when they claim lack of support is, their particular environment often yields lack of support. A justified complaint, but only in the face of true witness. Often times those complaints come after not being a show of support themselves.

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Tyrese On His Breakdown:

If the complaint is; “we should support our own more often,” then why don’t we start publicly? It matters that we show public support to further encourage our own to do the same, and the world too. Public support includes vetoing the dragging culture, and supporting each other on social media platforms vs the consistent dragging and lashing out that’s often seen. In the video above Tyrese explains he’s not crazy, just hurt and trying to get his daughter back often asking for prayer and support. While comedians may disagree that making fun of this isn’t wrong, I suppose the idea of when it’s okay to poke fun, comes to mind.

Most recently TMZ reported Tyrese’s national breakdown was caused by; “Rexulti used to treat depression having an adverse effect on him’. Whether or not the public believes this to be true, the fact that it’s a possibility and so many of us were desensitized to that fact is the reason we shouldn’t jump to conclusions when people we know and love “act out”. Instead of jumping, we should resist and love on each other.

In the case of comedians waiting until whatever’s the new drag material is actually over is a safe bet, but who am I to say? Collectively if we say we want to unify, individually we should start to do so. Tyrese needs prayer, his daughter and his family. Even though celebrity and entertainment is the minor take away getting away from this dragging culture is major to the development of your personal life. Celebrities are just people, and using their publicity to tackle a greater issue is the whole point of this article. The unity is there, we just have to override the drag and show more of what we know is the better option via social media.

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© 2017 Tahir Register
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