"Don't ask someone if they're Texan. If they are, they'll tell you. If they aren't, there's no need to embarrass them."
Yep, I've seen a bunch of disparaging commentary on my home state from assholes that have probably never even been here. Just because there are some vocal nitwits in my state, doesn't mean we're all dumb asses. Just like how every state in the union (EVERY. STATE.) has something stupid in its history, we do, too. But we also have a shit-ton of awesome, and it's a lot.
Partial list of Awesome Native Texans: Carol Burnett. Cyd Charisse. Joan Crawford. Sissy Spacek. Buddy Holly. Steve Martin. Molly Ivins. Ann Richards. Willie Nelson. Gene Roddenberry. Tommy Tune. ME. We had a Jewish Empressario (in the late 1700s) we had a Mexican VP. One of the Iwo Jima flag raisers was a Texan, Harlon Block. Oh, hey, and the Admiral of Team Six? As in, just took out Osama Bin Laden? TEXAN. Tom Ford is a Texan. Amy Acker. Jensen Ackles. Debbie Allen. Wes Anderson. Don Bluth. Tex Avery. Shelley Duvall. Bill Hicks. Eryka Badu. Stevie Ray Vaughn. Berkley Breathed. Horton Foote. Most of the astronauts.
You know, just to name a teeny fraction of people my state has birthed.
We have prairie, desert, mountains, thick pine forests, and ocean. We have better food in this state than you'll find anywhere (because we have it all. I've NEVER found pit BBQ, burgers, or Tex-Mex worth a damn outside this state. But I've had outstanding French, Japanese, Ethiopian, Italian, Thai, etc. etc. here. NYC: y'all get steak as good as I can get here and we'll talk, because that's what's keeping me from wanting to live there. Well, that and the crazy real estate prices. But you sure can get a lot of good food easy there, that's one of the good things among many good things about NYC.)
You don't hear me saying this state is shit, or that state is awful. Know why? Because people LIVE THERE. It's their HOME. And I'm too busy loving where I live. I'm not going to dump all over someone's home state or nation because that's not cool. We had a super collider before CERN. But the Feds stopped funding because science wasn't important in the 80s under Regan. We're the home of NASA. Yes, we have idiots and we've borrowed some, too (looking at you, Dubya.) But so has everyone else.
My mother's family was here long before the god damn pilgrims were in the Americas. In Texas (Choctaw Indians.) The other side of my family moved here from England and defended this nation-state at the Alamo. I'm a red-blooded honest-to-god Texan, and I kinda love my home. Please stop shitting on it. I'm a good person, and hey, this place is filled with lots of people that feel like I do. Quit being a dick. In case you haven't noticed, I really really REALLY hate stupid comments about Texas just because it became a habit for some people. It's not clever, and it's not funny. And it makes me think you look like a dumb ass.
Now go bookmark "Hey, Don't Judge Me" and read it later when Glee goes up at 3CST. Lol.
Yep, I've seen a bunch of disparaging commentary on my home state from assholes that have probably never even been here. Just because there are some vocal nitwits in my state, doesn't mean we're all dumb asses. Just like how every state in the union (EVERY. STATE.) has something stupid in its history, we do, too. But we also have a shit-ton of awesome, and it's a lot.
Partial list of Awesome Native Texans: Carol Burnett. Cyd Charisse. Joan Crawford. Sissy Spacek. Buddy Holly. Steve Martin. Molly Ivins. Ann Richards. Willie Nelson. Gene Roddenberry. Tommy Tune. ME. We had a Jewish Empressario (in the late 1700s) we had a Mexican VP. One of the Iwo Jima flag raisers was a Texan, Harlon Block. Oh, hey, and the Admiral of Team Six? As in, just took out Osama Bin Laden? TEXAN. Tom Ford is a Texan. Amy Acker. Jensen Ackles. Debbie Allen. Wes Anderson. Don Bluth. Tex Avery. Shelley Duvall. Bill Hicks. Eryka Badu. Stevie Ray Vaughn. Berkley Breathed. Horton Foote. Most of the astronauts.
You know, just to name a teeny fraction of people my state has birthed.
We have prairie, desert, mountains, thick pine forests, and ocean. We have better food in this state than you'll find anywhere (because we have it all. I've NEVER found pit BBQ, burgers, or Tex-Mex worth a damn outside this state. But I've had outstanding French, Japanese, Ethiopian, Italian, Thai, etc. etc. here. NYC: y'all get steak as good as I can get here and we'll talk, because that's what's keeping me from wanting to live there. Well, that and the crazy real estate prices. But you sure can get a lot of good food easy there, that's one of the good things among many good things about NYC.)
You don't hear me saying this state is shit, or that state is awful. Know why? Because people LIVE THERE. It's their HOME. And I'm too busy loving where I live. I'm not going to dump all over someone's home state or nation because that's not cool. We had a super collider before CERN. But the Feds stopped funding because science wasn't important in the 80s under Regan. We're the home of NASA. Yes, we have idiots and we've borrowed some, too (looking at you, Dubya.) But so has everyone else.
My mother's family was here long before the god damn pilgrims were in the Americas. In Texas (Choctaw Indians.) The other side of my family moved here from England and defended this nation-state at the Alamo. I'm a red-blooded honest-to-god Texan, and I kinda love my home. Please stop shitting on it. I'm a good person, and hey, this place is filled with lots of people that feel like I do. Quit being a dick. In case you haven't noticed, I really really REALLY hate stupid comments about Texas just because it became a habit for some people. It's not clever, and it's not funny. And it makes me think you look like a dumb ass.
Now go bookmark "Hey, Don't Judge Me" and read it later when Glee goes up at 3CST. Lol.
- Spock is::
enraged
'Oos dis bint, then?
stoney321- Laura Stone
- Hey, Don't Judge Me
Comments
You said everything I've been thinking for a long time and I thank you, Stoney. Thank you so much! ^_^
Oh, and for the record, Texas is on my must-visit list. I've only ever heard wonderful things about your home state and I've been dying to visit since I was a litle girl!
And Texas is BOSS. The Hill country is some of the prettiest land there is.
(Half Texan, Wichita Falls, yo.)
SANE TEXANS. I IMPLORE YOU. DRIVE THE MANIACS INTO THE SEA (OKAY THE GULF WHATEVER) AND RECLAIM YOUR GIANT STATE IN THE NAME OF AWESOMENESS. and then bring me some tacos.
ilusm for putting berke breathed on that list btw.
(i order my steak online. from texas.)
Edited at 2011-07-08 08:01 pm (UTC)
I've been one of those people that just assumed that Texas was pretty bleagh. Happily, I've grown out of making giant assumptions about what places/things/people that I have no knowledge of are like. Also, I have enough manners to know not to be rude about where people are from. I sure don't like it when people do it to me. I also wanted to say that, reading your blog has really turned me around about my perception of Texas.
Also - I would like to apologize for the rest of California. Some of us do actually have manners. If you ever return to the Bay Area and don't mind taking a side trip, there's a tiki bar in Alameda where we'd love to buy you drinks.
And I am so glad to know that I've been able to show you a different side of my beloved home state. We're pretty nice out here, and we make some killer grub, I'm just saying. And we're the home of Shiner Bock! Hahaha.
I would love to hit a tiki bar, that sounds fantastic!
I have some isues with DFW, but my biggest one is that THERE IS NO OCEAN NEAR IT.
All the rest? Well, I've lived all over this country. I've heard the same attitudes expressed EVERYWHERE, and that includes South Beach, Miami Beach, FL - where you'd think it's all woohoo liberal! BZZZ. Yes, multicultural, huge LGBT, but also rich conservative people. (Remember the line from The Birdcage, that the Bushes had a place near it).
I really liked living in Austin. It still wasn't close enough to a body of saltwater for me, because no place that isn't within 10 miles of one is close enough for me. But I'd live on the Texas coast happily.
Yes, bible thumpers make me crazy. They made me crazy in Nevada and Tennessee, too. And, while the culture of open and vocal testimony is different in the northeast, they're there, too. Pennsylvania, my home state, gave us Rick Santorum (*spit*). I'm from a part of PA that's right near Delaware, which gave us Christine O'Donnell ("I'm not a witch"), but also Joe Biden, literally!
Yes, Texas educational policy can be horrifying - but guess which state is making HUGE cuts in education right now? Pennsylvania.
Lordy, your family has been here forever. None of mine arrived in the US before 1900. We're arrivistes!
Oooh, I was also shocked by the strong conservatism in that part of FL.
And thank you for this, I appreciate what you're saying - we ALL have our flaws. We all have something great about us, too. (Us/We = States of the Union.)
And yeah, we're big on geneology, but lost the thread on the American Indian side after several hundred years. Creole and Choctaw on my maternal line, Dutch/English on the other. My older sister and I - you can tell we have those dark pigmented genes come summer. My little sister? Little Dutch girl. :D
"Texas Forever"
Okay, I had to post that. I love Friday Night Lights so damn much.
I admit, being a New England Liberal, I tend to get angry about some of the politics in Texas but I know it's completely unfair to tar everyone with that brush. I've only ever been to the Dallas airport, so I know nothing about what Texas is really like, except what I learn from you folks on LJ. Also a little from my Dad, who was stationed in San Antonio many moons ago and said the food was awesome and the weather too damn hot (that was not all, but those were the bits he was most emphatic about). :-)
I would very much like to visit Texas some day and experience all it has to offer firsthand. It sounds pretty fabulous.
We're such a big state that when our policies reflect a certain, shall we said, enthusiastic type of crazy, it's bigger news than if, say, Rhode Island or Idaho had the same policies enacted. That's the unfortunate problem of being a huge and populous state. But that same mindset is everywhere, otherwise there wouldn't be a Tea Party or blah blah. Crazy is everywhere.
Texas is pretty boss, I gotta admit. Austin is the best place for East Coast Liberals to get a taste. Hahaha. It's the San Francisco of Texas! More assless chaps, though. (Over Wranglers, natch.)
I get ragged on a lot here in the Bay Area about being from Washington. Especially about being from Spokane. I figure people shouldn't bitch about other places unless they've actually LIVED there. I may bitch about my home, but I do it with love.
Oh and I get really sick of people using what they suppose is a Southern accent when they want to either pretend they are stupid or are voicing the stupidity of someone else.
Edited at 2011-07-08 09:38 pm (UTC)
urgh. If people are going to be disparaging about something, they need to learn PRECISION! Don't paint the whole state with the brush of badness. :(