New yorkers still don't fit (Houston, Dallas: school districts, income, quality of life)
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First let me say that the reason why as a New Yorker I feel like I don't fit in, isn't because of me, it's because I can't get used to the fact that growing up in NY we were surrounded by all different types of people from all different ethnic and religious backgrounds, we learned about them, got to know them most of us can even tell what nationality a person is by there last name. We know what an Irish name is an Italian name Jewish name etc., which is something most Texans have no clue of. Maybe it's because most New Yorkers are worldly and feel like a lot of texans are not, which only makes it harder to have things in common. Maybe Texas should step out once in a while and get to know the rest of the universe and not just Texas! Maybe if we (New Yorkers & Californians) stay here long enough we can teach you something other then TEXAS HISTORY. And by the way YANKEE IS SO OLD FASHIONED!!! I mean before moving here the last place I read or heard that (I was called one in a negative way for no good reason, just because of where I come from) was in my history book 30 some odd years ago, THIS IS 2007, please!!! Lets be nice
American History 101:
Most Native Texans come from a LONG line of families that have been in the United States since the 1600's. For instance having done extensive geanology research on my ancestors and my husbands I did not come across one single person in our lines that was not in the "New World" by the early 1700's. They ALL came over in the 1600's and early 1700's and came from a vast aray of places. There are several long lines of Irish, Scots, Germans, English, etc. If you know much about American History you know that they first settled in the first original colonies that are in the northeast. We have ancestors that founded towns and communities in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York (Long Island), etc. After every war that one served in they were granted a land grant to settle in a new territory. So off many of them went to North Carolina. Then South Carolina. Tennesse, Georgia and Florida followed. Their decendants were then venturing on out to points westward like Missouri, Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, etc. By this time we are into the early 1800's and their forefathers had already been in this country for almost 200 years (I still laugh over what one elementary history teacher said in class that my daughter told me - "all of us came from families that came thru Ellis Island". LOL!!! No honey, by the time Ellis Island was opened all of my ancestors had been here for a LONG TIME). Anyway, then the Civil War broke out and after the war many left their ruined family farms and moved on westward. Some went west during the war to help or whatever and many folks in Alabama were heavily recruited by the Mormons to move to Utah. It was very common after the Civil War to come across a cabin w/ the intials "GTT" carved on the door (Gone to Texas). You see the folks that came to Texas came from some pretty rough times and are a long line of pioneering types. Out searching the new frontier and settling colonies. I'd dare say that we are "afraid" of anything or anyone new, lol. We know that our mama's mama's daddys side was Irish. It is just that when they came here way back in the 1600's and adapted to this new land the way names were spelled over time changed. It is VERY common while researching census records to find more than one spelling of surnames for a person. Sometimes the change stuck and other times it did not. Or one brother might have taken off to California and ended up spelling his name different. Our history is a bit longer here in the "New World" so we have all assimilated w/ each other and intermarried so you don't find the huge cultural gaps like you do in the northeast. It is not odd to find someone as Texan as one could possibly be w/ what sounds like a Jewish surname that is not or vice versa. How else do you think we have ancestors that could possibly be such a wild mix of different ethnic backgrounds. We dropped the labels a long time ago.
As for the history being taught, my kids have had American History taught in their schools in elementary. Texas History is typically taught in 1st grade, 3rd grade and 7th grade in the lower levels and is not the ONLY history taught in elementary. What is the big deal about being taught Texas History why on earth would one disapprove of such? We should ALL take pride in our history. It is afterall what makes us what we are and got us all here to where we are today,
I've seen MANY high school grads go onto Ivy League schools.
Please disregard any spelling errors or strange words in here, I've got a little one in my lap that LOVES the keyboard and the music I have playing.
I'm not sure what schools OutOfState has had experience with, but my daughter will not be taught Texas History until 7th grade. Until then, it's "Social Studies" and focuses on various things. For instance, she just had to identify all the major cities in the Middle East on a world map - and that's NOT Middle East Texas, by the way.
Well, it's true! I don't care if someone's last name is German, Czech, African, or Peruvian, personally. My father's family is Greek, for heaven's sake. Who cares?!?
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Ah, but you can't be diverse if people don't point out differences.
Of course you can. Maybe I'm not "hearing" your sarcasm here.
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That was lovely MsJones coming from a native (born and bred)....Boy do I miss it!
Thank you, Cheasare. I'd be willing to bet that Texas misses you, too.
Of course you can. Maybe I'm not "hearing" your sarcasm here.
diverse |di?v?rs; d?-| adjective showing a great deal of variety : a culturally diverse population. • (of two or more things) markedly different from one another : subjects as diverse as architecture, language teaching, and the physical sciences.
I know "diversity" is a big buzzword now, but all it means is that you're pointing out the *markedly different* things about people.
Perhaps we should focus more on tolerance than diversity.
Nevertheless, I wouldn't go to a new place, complain constantly about it, and expect to be welcomed with open arms. (Although it take me awhile to figure out not even the nice people smile in the north.)
Oh wow...I've noticed things in several of the posts that, IMO, would turn the Texan friendliness off. First, it's usually not a good idea to come into Texas and try to change a Native Texan's way of thinking or look down on them for it. Most do not care to see the rest of the country, muchless the rest of the world. Learning another culture isn't a priority and it's much more that way the further into East Texas you get. I am the only one in my family who wants to travel the world and experience other cultures and I get stares from my own family..haha.
Texas is very rich in history and yes, it is taught and there is an outrageous amount of pride in Texas. You can either let it offend you or accept it as one of the many cultural differences in Texas. If it does offend you, moving here wouldn't be good because it's not going to change.
When I lived in Colorado, I received comments the whole time I was there regarding my accent. When I moved back to Texas, I didn't realize I had picked up the Colorado accent and I got the stares/comments from my own fellow Texans. When I visit relatives in Northern California, it's the same thing. It's all in how you take it. I never took it as rude, but rather as I was a new mouse in the house and they didn't know how to react to their own curiousity.
I've always lived here and there are definately some....I stress, "some"....outrageously rude, snobby Texans here that are too rich for their own good. There are a lot of Texans that prefer to find out what you are about before they welcome you, but once that happens, you have a friend for life and they will do anything in their power to help you. (Aren't these people everywhere though?) However, for the most part, Texans are wonderful, friendly people who will welcome you from the very beginning.
I'm not sure what schools OutOfState has had experience with, but my daughter will not be taught Texas History until 7th grade. Until then, it's "Social Studies" and focuses on various things. For instance, she just had to identify all the major cities in the Middle East on a world map - and that's NOT Middle East Texas, by the way.
Is it a good idea to go in and change a native New Yorker's way of thinking? Heck, is it good to go anywhere and try that? And who came up with this post? It's a good one (gee I guess I could go back and see who did). East Coast people have a much easier time adjusting to Florida and Chicagoans do okay in Texas. I have a lot of relatives from New York and Chicago. I am from Chicago myself and live in Houston along with my brother. We love it in Houston. I can't imagine in a million years my relatives from Staten Island and Queens living anywhere in Texas. Many of my relatives don't even own cars!
Well, I just started at the top of the page with JoAnnG's little ditty. I think I've posted somewhere else in this thread but JoAnn was enough.
JoAnn, darlin', let's talk. My grandmother was born near Athens, the one in Texas and she is not greek. She did marry an Irish man and had a couple of kids. They then loaded a covered wagon and dragged the family across Texas to Rising Star. That's near Abilene, but not the one in Palestine, neither in the Bible nor in Texas. That was about 100 hundred years ago. They were tenant farmers, they picked cotton and had more kids.
After about ten years they loaded up that wagon and drove it back to east Texas, near Mexia (pronounced Dai - ree - Queen) and had more kids. The community was actually called Kosse and my Uncle tells me of learning some fiddlin' from a guy named Bob Wills. Back in those days, there'd just be a Saturday social at one of the churches and everybody in the country side would come.
I could take you to that area today and show you the fence post near where my mother was born. I could show you the farm where my mother picked cotton. I could show you the hollow where my grandmother's cousin ran hogs. I could show you the water well where my dad installed a water pump in 1962 so my grandmother's cousin and his family could have running water. Those cotton farmers and hog runners do now own those properties, out there, where the ferriners don't go. My cousins and I are 'first generation' city dwellers here in Texas. 'Scuse us if we're a bit ignorant.
I also was born in Texas but learned my English basics from the Brits, at the British embassy in Lisbon. So, 'scuse me if I just accept your difference as being as common as a June bug. I later worked in oil companies with people from India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Phillipines. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia, France, England, Algeria, Nederland, Mexico, Canada and probly some places that no longer exist. And that was just in Houston. One of the best friends I ever had was from Iran. Of these people from the ME or far east, I can distinguish their origins by their speech, looks or lifestyle.
You may recall the economic down turn in the latter half of the 20th century. Plenty of NY'ers and from other places came to Texas. That's where we get the bumper sticker 'I wasn't born here but I got here as fast as I could'. That's when Dallas and Houston became migration destinations. People looking for work instead of a government hand out. We didn't ask where they came from or what they wanted. We welcomed them and put them to work. They didn't complain. They're just one of us now. Jews, heretics, Poles, Irish, Italian, whatever. They changed things here then. It's just a part of us. What can you do to help us grow now?
And by the way, I regularly watch 'The New Yankee Workshop' on that new fangled TV thing. Maybe an old New Yorker like you can learn something new too.
People looking for work instead of a government hand out.
The New Yorkers looking for a government hand out moved to Washington for work in the Federal Government. From the D.C. board, the Washingtonians are complaining about the New Yorker's morals and behavior changing the Washington social landscape.
Aren't they locally, well, nationally also, referred to as congressmembers?
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just because of where I come from) was in my history book 30 some odd years ago, THIS IS 2007, please!!! Lets be nice 
