THE EXPLOITATION OF TRAYVON MARTIN

The Mayor of Cincinnati, Mark Mallory, on his Facebook page

The exploitation of Trayvon Martin is proceeding apace.

Former NAACP leader C.L. Bryant is accusing Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton of “exploiting” the Trayvon Martin tragedy to “racially divide this country.”

“His family should be outraged at the fact that they’re using this child as the bait to inflame racial passions,” Rev. C.L. Bryant said in a Monday interview with The Daily Caller.

The conservative black pastor who was once the chapter president of the Garland, Texas NAACP called Jackson and Sharpton “race hustlers” and said they are “acting as though they are buzzards circling the carcass of this young boy.”

There is more to it than just that. Trayvon's mother has moved to copyright trademarks associated with the burgeoning movement:

While Trayvon Martin’s mother accused authorities of smearing her son, her lawyer revealed she’s moved to trademark slogans that have been popularized amid the outcry over his killing.

Sybrina Fulton, the slain teen’s mother, has sought to trademark two phrases: “Justice for Trayvon” and “I Am Trayvon,” attorney Kimra Major-Morris confirmed in an email Monday in which she said the move was not intended to reap a profit, the Associated Press reported.

More significant than race-hustling and commercializing the young man's memory, however, is the embrace of the gangsta hoodlum ethos by community leaders across the country.

The photograph above was posted by the Mayor of Cincinnati, Mark Mallory, on his Facebook page.

He is proudly posing as a pensive gangsta hodlum in his black hoodie.

The political leader of a major American city is now adopting the threatening, gangsta apparel of street gangs and hoodlums.

Hoodies are worn by young men who want to look tough and gangsta. Their elders then act surprised when people find them threatening? Bad enough. But when the leaders of the community follow the gangs --rather than oppose their dress and lifestyle, as Mayor Nutter of Philadelphia did-- the prevailing culture has taken a turn for the worse.

This isn't really new. Mayor Nutter was praised for his "courage" when he admonished Philadelphia's teenagers to stop dressing like felons and behave themselves in public.

Since when should that require "courage?"