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I’m all for the idea of partying for a purpose, but it takes a very special kind of stupid to think the slaughter of a teenager is the perfect premise to promote twirking. Still, some promoter thought it would be a grand idea to take the death of Trayvon Martin as an opportunity to advertise his event this week at a strip club in Greensboro, North Carolina. The flier featured Trayvon’s face with the caption, “Justice: In memory of Trayvon Martin.”

RELATED: Cop Account Of Trayvon Killing Questionable

Not to be outdone, the flier promised:

“EVERYONE FREE B4 11 WITH AN EMPTY BAG OF SKITTLES.”

Not even the guarantee of free chicken wings before 10:30 can negate the idiocy of it all.

Even worse, there was no mention that any of the proceeds of the party would go to Martin’s parents as they prep for potential legal fights with their son’s killer. Then again, why would anyone expect the careless to be that thoughtful?

Fortunately, the party has apparently been canned after owners of the Lingerie Lounge found out about the flier and the promoter’s method of drawing attention to his event. Kudos to the club owners for putting the halt on that horrible idea, but unfortunately, most of us know that this kind of trivialization has become the norm.

Every single year there are fliers promoting “I Have A Dream” themed bashes over Martin Luther King weekend. Just this year, a Miami strip club had to apologize for a flier depicting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holding wads of cash next to a bunch of butt-naked women. The brainchild of the flier, graphic designer Jeffery Darner Paul, says he had no idea people would get upset.

He told an NBC Miami reporter last January, “I wasn’t trying to disrespect anybody … it wasn’t on my mind that it would escalate to something like this. It was just supposed to be a promotional thing, it wasn’t about disgracing Martin Luther King, it wasn’t about that.”

I gather the people behind the “Light Skin vs. Dark Skin” MLK themed party held in Chicago might offer a similar retort. As would the folks behind this would-be Trayvon party. Perhaps even select Twitter users, whose hoodie pictures “for Trayvon” were largely overshadowed by their braless poses, would give the same baseless response.

They’re all guilty of trivializing serious matters and exploiting major issues or movements for selfish reasons…and I kind of wish they’d all fall through a damn trap door for it.

Michael Arceneaux is a Houston-bred, Howard-educated writer currently based in Los Angeles. You can read more of his work on his site, The Cynical Ones. Follow him on Twitter: @youngsinick