Are Texas Born Blacks And Hispanics Least Likely To Have the Stereotypical Texan Accent ? (Houston: areas, population)

[solytaire]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I suggest that you venture out of East Texas and check out the rest of the state, and you might change that opinion. While it MIGHT be true of East Texas (and remember I'm an East Texas girl born and bred myself and I still say MIGHT), it's certainly not the case in a large part of the state that the "white southern" influence dominates. No matter how much some might wish that were the case.

I respect, and acknowledge, all the contributors to the unique culture that is Texas. And I don't pretend that there hasn't been a great influence on this culture by those who didn't get here by way of the South (and who were here before) - just as great, in some areas, as that Southern influence is on the parts of Texas that most closely adjoin it geographically.

"I suggest that you venture out of East Texas and check out the rest of the state, and you might change that opinion"

lol...Been there done that...I understand the looming temptation that the most presumptouous of us may have to categorize anyone holding a different perspective from them as some ignorant backwoods dunce..lol..Thats fine and its to be expected of such individuals by now. Nothing wrong with proving those people who presume as much, woefully wrong. but as TR said, those areas that I have traveled to (Dallas, many times. Houston, now. San Antonio & Austin Witchita Falls, years ago, Corpus Cristi, College Station almost monthly at one point, etc), when compared to other areas of the south and outside the south I have traveled (Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Boston, California, and the list goes on, but whatever) and when a categorization has to be made, Texas is southern imo. No need to spend my whole life on the road in an effort to change that opinion. And Im not here to try and change yours. You dont believe Texas is a part of the south. I wholeheartedly believe it is. Cool, No need to bicker about it from where I stand, not that big a deal to me. I would like to be able to each respectfully state our opinions and move on.

I will be the first to acknowledge that some areas of Texas are steeped in provincialism, and that pockets of Texas are heavily interspersed with cultures other than that of white southerners.

But I also think that because we are in America, and the prevailing culture of this country as a whole (even many native american inhabited states today) is much more influenced by whites than any other group, that it only makes sense that the American whites who migrated to Texas established a stronger culture in Texas than others. As they did in most other states to which they migrated.

But Ill see if I can muster up enough gas money to crawl out of "gud ol eest teyxus, hyuck!"...lol..Probably need to leave Houston first though.

[solytaire]

And in all candor, I am not for one fleeting moment, naive enough to think Texas is a run of the mill, prototypical southern state. Nor do I think it can lay claim to the notion of being Southern in the same light that Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, or Tennessee can. But is it any different than Florida, Arkansas, or Kentucky, or North Carolina or Virginia in the tapering gradient of its southern qualities? imo Not in the least.

[blueskies49]

Well put, Solytaire. I don't think anyone is *wishing* for Texas to be in the South, it's a matter of history and facts, not *wishful thinking*. States are grouped together for a reason and its mostly due to geography and similarities in settlement patterns, history, language, culture, food, etc. We have the Midwest, the Plains states, the Western states, the Pacific Northwest, the Northeast, etc. So in grouping the state of Texas, it's naturally categorized along with the South because it has more in common with the South. Typically, the old Confederacy is what determines the South of which Texas was a vital part.

So we have our pockets of cultural differences, as has been mentioned, Central Texas settled by large groups of Germans and Czechs, and South Texas with the original Tejanos and the Mexican influence, but the overwhelming influence to the state, like it or not people, were the white Southerners. Even West Texas was settled by them and no, the geography out there is not what you would consider a typical Southern landscape but then there really isn't a typical Southern landscape. You have your coastal areas in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, where most of the cotton plantations were. The Upper South which includes Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, etc., where it snows and is more mountainous, for example.

Anyway, I'm sure we could go on, but just some food for thought.

[TexasHorseLady]

We could definitely go on, but I do (usually) know when to stop arguing religion of whatever nature!

[solytaire]

*Hillbilly accent*...We are the city data southerners cult and we dont take kinelee tah non buleevers 'royund hair!...lol

[San4ds]

An accent can be a stumbling block to great relationships and friendships, a Texan....

[Two4damoney]

Originally Posted by Jeff Jarrett

I noticed that whites in Texas on average are more likely to have the heavy Texan accent than blacks and hispanics. Does anybody else here notice this as well ?

Actually here in West Texas I've met plenty of native West Texans that dont have a Texas or southern accent at all. They sound like they could be from California/Arizona area. The ones I've met that do have accents are either originally from another part of Texas (usually eastern) or their parents are. At least thats been my experience here. And I'm originally from California but when I talk to the natives here they always say they thought I was a native West Texan. So obviously theyre not detecting anything different about the way I talk either. Unless theres some way that I've picked up a bit of a Texas accent from living here somehow. lol

[llmrkc07]

I was born in raised in Beaumont/Port Arthur area and yea some blacks have Texan/Southern accents there...but some have more of a LA accent too. When I'm in Houston and Dallas the first question people ask me is "Where are you from", because of my accent? But when im in Louisiana i don't get that question at all. I think it depends on what area of the state you are in.

[blkgiraffe]

I think blacks tend to usually have a stronger accent more than whites.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Canine*Castle

I don't know of any blacks or Mexicans that have a Texas accent. In my opinion and from what I've observed, they have their very own accent.

There's a hell lot of them in San Antonio.