Can you be a "true" Texan if you weren't born here? (Austin: houses, bill)

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Then there are people like me. I was born in Texas, lived there off and on during my childhood, though for the most part lived in Virginia and DC through my elementary and jr high years, finished HS in Texas (Lubbock), went to Tech, UT-Austin, and TCU (grad school), with a hiatus of a couple years in Colorado lived in Texas from age 16 to just shy of 50, have been living abroad and in the Mid-Atlantic for the past 11&1/2 years, still own property in Texas on which I pay taxes. I've lived all over the state and driven all over, especially in West Texas. But I don't identify with the Texan label. I know a lot of the state intimately, find some of it quite interesting,compelling, and resonant with my aesthetics, have a particular attachment to Austin, but really can't get into over-identifying with the state as a whole. I'm an American, in some sense a drifter, not completely attached to anywhere. In some ways I see myself as a Texas Expat -- I would never move back there given the current political, uber-conservative orientation of the state as a whole. I do miss the warmer winter weather. But after the last 20 years in Austin I was ready to move on. The world as a whole has so much more to offer than staying put in one place all one's life -- from my perspective anyway. I could unpack things further, but that's enough to convey something of my objective and subjective experience with regard to Texas. I know others from high school who left the state years earlier than I did -- people I went to high school with in Lubbock who had grown up there. They wanted things Texas didn't offer them.

No place has everything. No place is perfect.

For me, the key is to make enough money to be able to travel to wherever I want, when I want to experience something different. I love travel, I appreciate other cultures, and meanwhile I like the independent mindset of most Texans. I never feel "like I don't belong," even though I'm not Baptist, I don't know how to two step, I haven't ridden a horse since I was fifteen, and I've got a family so diverse we look like a UN delegation when we get together for holidays. What I like about Texas particularly is that there is so much diversity and so many different types of culture, terrain, food, music, lifestyles, etc that it's pretty easy for me to find kindred spirits - in spite of preferring Belgian beer over Lone Star.

Meanwhile, I love living in Texas for the majority of the time, and though I am not a native Texan and have lived and traveled all over the world and the US, I choose to self identify as a Texan. So far, no one's complained, even though I am actually a native New Orleans coon arse.

Laissez le bon temps rouler! And yeehaw.

[Sunderpig2]

Originally Posted by blkgiraffe

You mean to tell me Texas was moderate and more progressive prior the mid 80s????

I've never said anything about it being progressive (those are your words). I said it was moderate and independent-minded prior to the 80s. Look up the statistics and do the research yourself, especially concerning voting / party affiliation, and cultural identification (independent, or tied to a region).

[NoClueWho]

Originally Posted by blkgiraffe

This makes no sense.

You mean to tell me Texas was moderate and more progressive prior the mid 80s????

lol.....

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by Sunderpig2

I've never said anything about it being progressive (those are your words). I said it was moderate and independent-minded prior to the 80s. Look up the statistics and do the research yourself, especially concerning voting / party affiliation, and cultural identification (independent, or tied to a region).

I'm assuming your a white man speaking on moderate and independent minded thinking prior to the 80s.

[sluggermatt15]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Then there are people like me. I was born in Texas, lived there off and on during my childhood, though for the most part lived in Virginia and DC through my elementary and jr high years, finished HS in Texas (Lubbock), went to Tech, UT-Austin, and TCU (grad school), with a hiatus of a couple years in Colorado lived in Texas from age 16 to just shy of 50, have been living abroad and in the Mid-Atlantic for the past 11&1/2 years, still own property in Texas on which I pay taxes. I've lived all over the state and driven all over, especially in West Texas. But I don't identify with the Texan label. I know a lot of the state intimately, find some of it quite interesting,compelling, and resonant with my aesthetics, have a particular attachment to Austin, but really can't get into over-identifying with the state as a whole. I'm an American, in some sense a drifter, not completely attached to anywhere. In some ways I see myself as a Texas Expat -- I would never move back there given the current political, uber-conservative orientation of the state as a whole. I do miss the warmer winter weather. But after the last 20 years in Austin I was ready to move on. The world as a whole has so much more to offer than staying put in one place all one's life -- from my perspective anyway. I could unpack things further, but that's enough to convey something of my objective and subjective experience with regard to Texas. I know others from high school who left the state years earlier than I did -- people I went to high school with in Lubbock who had grown up there. They wanted things Texas didn't offer them.

Completely agree. The day I left my hometown was the day I started to enjoy America and life much more. Leaving home was one of the best decisions I ever made. Experiencing new places/states is something I think everyone should do. Go live somewhere you've always wanted. I don't think many would regret it.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by sluggermatt15

Completely agree. The day I left my hometown was the day I started to enjoy America and life much more. Leaving home was one of the best decisions I ever made. Experiencing new places/states is something I think everyone should do. Go live somewhere you've always wanted. I don't think many would regret it.

I did the same but just came to the conclusion that the best of both worlds is in Texas. I left he state for a more "worldly" experience but quickly surmised that the worldly cities I lived in were expensive and crowded to the max. Plus you have to deal with the most trendy, quippy, A type yuppies you'll ever meet. You know the type. They're overly competitive, just plugged into the latest trends and pop culture, just strike you as utterly vapid and selfish. I'm talking straight out of a network sitcom. Texans refer to them as "worldly people". Not because the world is bad but that they're just so overly trendy and get their cues from the latest socially trending fad.

I love Texas cus it offers near burgeoning world class cities at half the cost of LA and NYC and without the pretentiousness of the people I described above. What other state offers that? You could live cheaper in other states but there's nothing much to it because their cities aren't as developed. I could live cheaper in Utah or Idaho but Salt Lake and Boise just aren't Houston or Dallas. Colorado, maybe? That while Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee area? Maybe.

Plus I just feel safer in Texas because of the diverse economy and strong job market in the cities. I've been all over the world and I've yet to find that secure bubble that's Texas.

[RJ312]

I'm not a true Texan. I like living in Texas though.

True Texas experiences are becoming more limited. Dallas does not seem like Texas to me. Dallas seems like it could be almost anywhere.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

A lot of transplants, not all, come from the coasts because of jobs. They hate it and complain, so they utilize their time, get a second degree, build up more work experience and then move back to where they came from.

That's not so unusual or unique to Texas. I think that happens in every state where somebody takes a job and then later move back to the home state they came from. They are not necessarily slamming Texas, they just prefer to live in their home state to Texas. You can't blame them for that, now, can you?

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by RJ312

I'm not a true Texan. I like living in Texas though.

True Texas experiences are becoming more limited. Dallas does not seem like Texas to me. Dallas seems like it could be almost anywhere.

I felt the same about Houston last visit but when I went out to the hill country and Austin it felt way more Texan. I'm moving there.

[soletaire]

Originally Posted by Gunion Powder

But what I said goes for any place in the world. Not just Texas.

Your formative years are crucial to your lifelong identity and outlook on life. Even the food you ate shapes who you are. So if you never got sick from too much Gulf shrimp, Frito pie or steak fingers with frozen Dr Pepper, or you never had to pledge allegiance to the Texas flag every day at school or went on field trips to the Alamo...then there's a major part of the total Texan experience that you have never known.

I understand that many people move here later in life and happily adopt this state as their new home. I definitely call them Texans. They just don't have the total package. This isn't necessarily a bad thing since, as you suggested, there are plenty of born and bred Texans that I would never want to associate with.

This...I welcome anyone from anywhere who wants to be in Texas, to be a Texan....but I wholeheartedly agree that there are certain experiences of being born and raised in Texas that just distinguish you from transplants. There's an authenticity that's missing with transplants who often fall in love with the imagery and idea of Texas, but who don't really have the perspective that is cultivated by being born and raised in the state. To be honest, I wouldn't go to Louisiana or California or New York and consider myself a Californian, Louisianan or New Yorker either. Because those states have a very distinct identity that is ingrained in most of its natives from day 1, which I just wouldn't have, regardless of how much I may love their state.