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By Stanley P. Gershbein
Brooklyn Daily
Florida educators use the standardized Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test, known as the F-Cat. Several years ago, a large segment of the population who were against this yardstick used to measure the educational accomplishments of youngsters, threatened the Sunshine State, demanding that if the test was not done away with, they would boycott orange juice.
Huh? No I am not making this up. I remember when thousands gathered to demonstrate at the governor’s offices. Unlike the successful similar boycott dealing with Anita Bryant and gay rights, this one fizzled out. The F-Cat is still around — and so is orange juice.
There are many people in the United States that are unhappy with the verdict of the Zimmerman trial and want to take it out on the state of Florida. Their rallying cry is “Boycott Florida.”
Rev. Al Sharpton has suggested that until the “Stand Your Ground” law is repealed, everyone should boycott — get this — orange juice.
Again with the orange juice! And he is not alone. As of this writing, Martin Luther King III has also jumped on the “boycott orange juice” bandwagon. If it gets off the ground, will it work? Time will tell.
Right now, though, I would say the “Boycott Florida” call has not been successful. The Sunshine State is a lot more than the city of Sanford. Yesterday, Delta flight No. 1443 landed at Orlando Airport with not one empty seat.
Who out their really thinks they can get away with telling the kids “Because of the verdict, we are changing our plans and not going to Disney World?”
The head honchos over in central Florida are so confident in the number of fans visiting Mickey Mouse that they recently increased the Magic Kingdom admission prices. Add the costs of the tickets, hotels, car rentals, restaurants, and souvenirs, and every visiting family will drop a lot of money.
Stevie Wonder, along with several other entertainers, are also very unhappy with the jury decision. They say that they will not perform in Florida. As of now, Justin Timberlake, Bill O’Reilly, Diana Ross, Alice Cooper and Itzhak Perlman will. So will Michael Buble, and we already have our tickets.
Sold out JetBlue Flight No. 301 landed in Fort Lauderdale today. Who in the world had the chutzpah to tell those kids before it took off that because of what some folks believe is an unfair verdict they will not be able to visit grandma for a week before going back to school? Not me. I’m afraid of those kids.
The “Stand Your Ground” laws now exist in about 30 states. If, by some slim chance, the orange juice boycott is successful and the laws in Florida are repealed, what’s next on the agenda? Will Al Sharpton and company seek changes in other states? Idaho has a similar law. I am StanGershbein@Bellsouth.net asking, will they now go there and boycott potatoes?
Read Stan Gershbein's column every Monday on BrooklynDaily.com.