When Florida Loses Tax Revenue Because Of Trayvon Martin, The Legislature Will Act

The acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin has brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets across America. They are launching peaceful protests of what is one of the greatest injustices out of the American South.

These rallies may have been a great comfort to Trayvon Martin’s family. They also encourage African-American communities across America to stop accepting a broken status quo. However, it won’t bring an end to Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. Nor will it bring justice for Trayvon Martin.

The trial can not be re-heard. We can’t unwind the hands of time to prevent this tragedy from happening. However, there are other ways for Trayvon Martin to receive justice.

The legacy Of Trayvon Martin Should Be About Activism

This means influencing the Florida Legislature and Florida Governor Rick Scott. Both are both up for re-election next year. Marching on the streets of San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, and Detroit are not going to influence Florida politicians. Florida Legislators like members of Congress only care about what the constituents think. After all, they’re the ones who elected them.

The Florida Legislature will listen to you if you stop spending your hard-earned money in Florida.  After all, tourism is Florida’s cash cow. There are only three main reasons people vacation in Florida.  They go to visit grandma, hang out at the beach in the winter or to go the Disney’s Magic Kingdom and Universal Studios in Orlando. The Orlando theme parks are less than 15 miles from where George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin.

Florida receives nearly $67 billion a year in tax revenue from tourism. Of which, nearly 65% comes from the 62 million tourists a year going to Orlando to visit Disney and Universal theme parks.

Boycotting Florida Theme Parks Will Get The Florida Legislature To Preven Future Trayvon Martin Incidents

An organized boycott by the NAACP and/or other social justice groups may not have a deep impact on Comcast or Disney’s bottom line but it would affect Florida’s tax base since most of this revenue comes from sales taxes, rental car taxes and hotel taxes paid by tourists.

Disney goes to great lengths to avoid being sucked into the race debate. They have been going to great lengths over the past 25-30 years to distance itself from what some it’s racially insensitive past.

Case in point, they ruthlessly pursue anyone who shows clips of the 1946 movie, Song of the South on Youtube. They have also pulled its characters like Br’er Rabbit off the shelf at its theme parks and stores.

Even the crows from its 1941 masterpiece Dumbo have been removed from toy shelves for being racially insensitive toward African-Americans.

Disney is not alone, Comcast’s Universal Pictures also has it’s share of racist cartoons in it’s past. It would like you to forget this gem from Walter Lantz, the creator of Woody Woodpecker was ever made:

People living outside Florida may not have a voice in the Florida Legislature to persuade them to abolish Stand Your Ground or even amend it to say you can’t claim it as a defense if your weapon is concealed but Comcast and Disney do have a voice and they have a very loud voice and a telephone line that goes directly to the Governor’s Mansion.