Forget the Stereotypes – Britain Could Learn a Lot From Texas
27th September 2015
Indeed it could.
Texas has always divided opinions. It prides itself on being the best, brashest and most bloody-minded slice of America, a cowboy state easy to caricature that is loved and loathed in equal measures. “I hate that place,” said a New Yorker friend of mine when I mentioned I was going to spend some time there. “It’s the asshole of our country.”
His view typifies that of liberal America, which finds strong echo in Europe. The Lone Star state is seen as callous and corrupt, the backward birthplace of a virulent form of crony capitalism filled with bible-bashers. It is infamous for poverty and poor schools, for locking up people and unhealthy enthusiasm for executions. No wonder it produced George W Bush and his disastrous presidency.
The reality is rather different. Those cartoon stereotypes hark back to nineteenth-century roots when an independent republic sought annexation by Washington, which originally rebuffed the overtures. It is the second biggest state in the union; it is also the most misunderstood. Far from exemplifying the worst aspects of the world’s most powerful nation as critics claim, Texas is in many ways a model of success and modernisation.
Dallas has been called ‘the buckle of the Bible Belt’. Yet I discovered the city is home to the country’s sixth biggest lesbian, gay and transgender population after arriving there on the weekend of its pride parade – although in typical Texan style, the celebrations are at a different time of year to the rest of the US. The current sheriff of Dallas County is a gay Latina woman while three hours down the road in the oil capital of Houston, often seen as a haven for ultra-conservatives, a thrice-elected lesbian mayor was the first openly-gay person to run a major American city.
Yeah, well, we don’t put that in the brochures.
September 27th, 2015 at 21:43
We even have a liberal sanctuary called “Austin”. Just look for the Birkenstockers…
September 28th, 2015 at 05:32
The Lone Star state is seen as callous and corrupt, the backward birthplace of a virulent form of crony capitalism filled with bible-bashers.
Uhhh… what? Bible-bashers? Texas is full of Bible-bashers?
Dallas has been called ‘the buckle of the Bible Belt’. Many cities are called that, Dallas less often than dozens of others.
From the article I’d wager that Texas will soon be New Mexico or California, and cease to be Texas.
September 28th, 2015 at 16:52
He’s just a Brit ‘progressive’ wanker with the typical prejudices of his class, but at least he’s trying to be honest, which is something few of them do.