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I have to laugh a little at that the implication that just because one city has more black people than another indicates existence of better "racial justice" from a policy perspective.
Sure, Austin has some racist political history, but so does every other city in the entire United States, much less the Jim Crow South. Houston's larger black population is much more likely a result of its much bigger (historical and present) manufacturing base than its supposedly extremely progressive race politics.
Frankly the massive stretches of suburban Houston are a big part of why Texas is so conservative at the state level. By far the biggest margin for Trump in 2016 was Montgomery county.
Travis actually produced a bigger margin in favor of Hillary than did Harris county, despite the fact that Harris county has almost 5 million people! Get out of here with this especially progressive Houston nonsense.
And despite the fact that Harris county is far more diverse.
I have to laugh a little at that the implication that just because one city has more black people than another indicates existence of better "racial justice" from a policy perspective.
Sure, Austin has some racist political history, but so does every other city in the entire United States, much less the Jim Crow South. Houston's larger black population is much more likely a result of its much bigger (historical and present) manufacturing base than its supposedly extremely progressive race politics.
I think we would first need to define racial justice policies or give examples of such.
And despite the fact that Harris county is far more diverse.
True, Travis county runs east-west and includes a lot of small towns in the hill country along Lake Travis. Many of the least-white areas in the Austin metro are in Williamson and Hays counties.
This is of course entirely because of affordability reasons, and has absolutely nothing to do with incredibly progressive policies by Williamson or Hays counties...
The terms "liberal" and "progressive" mean different things to different demographics. To some it means environmental policies, LGBT rights, and embracing a more crunchy lifestyle. To others it means racial justice and immigrants rights.
The former better describes a place like Austin, Portland, or Minneapolis. The later would better describe a place like Houston. Then youve got cities like Atlanta and Dallas which are kind of a mix between the two.
I think progressives these days largely focus on all of those issues (with race being most important right now)
I have to laugh a little at that the implication that just because one city has more black people than another indicates existence of better "racial justice" from a policy perspective.
Sure, Austin has some racist political history, but so does every other city in the entire United States, much less the Jim Crow South. Houston's larger black population is much more likely a result of its much bigger (historical and present) manufacturing base than its supposedly extremely progressive race politics.
Frankly the massive stretches of suburban Houston are a big part of why Texas is so conservative at the state level. By far the biggest margin for Trump in 2016 was Montgomery county.
Travis actually produced a bigger margin in favor of Hillary than did Harris county, despite the fact that Harris county has almost 5 million people! Get out of here with this especially progressive Houston nonsense.
No matter if Black people migrated to Houston in droves because of its manufacturing base it still produces a more culturally inclusive environment than Austin. That in itself produces a more “progressive” environment for Black and Brown people to prosper and contribute for the betterment of their communities in ways a city like Austin can not.
And while every city in America has a racist political history and PRESENT Austin’s 1928 master plan was a bit unique unlike any other city in America. Again that plan has impacted the city to this very day. I’ll give you an excerpt from an article written by a Hispanic journalist experience living in Austin.
Quote:
For years Austin has held the dubious distinction of being the only major city in the country clinging to an outmoded model of elective representation that all but ensured its racial exclusivity would persist. Since 1953, members of the city council have been elected on an at-large basis, which means that residents vote for individuals to represent the city as a whole, not their own neighborhoods. Because levels of voter participation, not to mention money, are unequal from neighborhood to neighborhood, this has perpetuated a serious imbalance in who holds and influences power. In the past forty years, half the city council members and fifteen of seventeen mayors have been from four zip codes west of I-35, an area that is home to just a tenth of the city’s population. The few have been governing the many.
Now with all that said, I do like Austin. I do think Austin does a lot of things better than other Texas cities like innovative ideas, entrepreneurship, local government, projects, environment, green spaces. Me and my Wife are in the entertainment industry part time so at one point we definitely considered moving to Austin. I also think Austin has that street level cohesive vibrancy that I find missing in a Houston or Dallas.
That’s why I totally get why a White Liberal would choose Austin over Houston. I don’t call myself a liberal or progressive(don’t believe in political titles,figures or parties) but a lot of what Austin offers fits me to a tee. That’s why I’m always in Austin almost every month plus business. But because I am Black and not into assimilating, Houston as far as Texas goes is the better fit for me and my family. Cultural wellness is very very important to me and many other Black people and POC. Austin is not providing you with that unless you don’t mind assimilating or can’t identify with your ethnicity.
And while RIGHT NOW I live in a very conservative Houston suburb( The Woodlands) there’s still some similarities I see with Austin that effects a poc experience. That similarity is White Privilege. No matter your political affiliation it still exist.
And Super Predator Hillary Clinton isn’t really that progressive or different from Trump either imo.
No matter if Black people migrated to Houston in droves because of its manufacturing base it still produces a more culturally inclusive environment than Austin. That in itself produces a more “progressive” environment for Black and Brown people to prosper and contribute for the betterment of their communities in ways a city like Austin can not.
And while every city in America has a racist political history and PRESENT Austin’s 1928 master plan was a bit unique unlike any other city in America. Again that plan has impacted the city to this very day. I’ll give you an excerpt from an article written by a Hispanic journalist experience living in Austin.
FWIW, in 2020 Houston has 6 at large council members compared to 11 representative council members, Austin has 10 representative council members and only a single at-large. (the mayor) Personally, I sort of prefer an at-large oriented system because it leads to policies that put the city first rather than petty neighborhood squabbles, but that's another convo. There are pros and cons of each.
I think all politics are dominated by those who actually show up to vote, and unfortunately in local elections that is a small minority. Traditionally, (even back when it was at-large) Austin has had a single AA member on the council. I'm not going to call that "progressive", but I would say it is consistent with the overall demographics of the city (8% AA).
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Originally Posted by Redlionjr
Now with all that said, I do like Austin. I do think Austin does a lot of things better than other Texas cities like innovative ideas, entrepreneurship, local government, projects, environment, green spaces. Me and my Wife are in the entertainment industry part time so at one point we definitely considered moving to Austin. I also think Austin has that street level cohesive vibrancy that I find missing in a Houston or Dallas.
That’s why I totally get why a White Liberal would choose Austin over Houston. I don’t call myself a liberal or progressive(don’t believe in political titles,figures or parties) but a lot of what Austin offers fits me to a tee. That’s why I’m always in Austin almost every month plus business. But because I am Black and not into assimilating, Houston as far as Texas goes is the better fit for me and my family. Cultural wellness is very very important to me and many other Black people and POC. Austin is not providing you with that unless you don’t mind assimilating or can’t identify with your ethnicity.
And while RIGHT NOW I live in a very conservative Houston suburb( The Woodlands) there’s still some similarities I see with Austin that effects a poc experience. That similarity is White Privilege. No matter your political affiliation it still exist.
And Super Predator Hillary Clinton isn’t really that progressive or different from Trump either imo.
I have zero issue with an AA preferring Houston over Austin for whatever reason. Certainly Houston is much cheaper and has a bigger middle class employment base. (Though for the record, AA's have substantially higher average incomes and less poverty in Austin than Houston.) It's understandable to want to be an environment where there are more people who look like yourself.
What I fundamentally disagree with is the idea that Houston's racial makeup is a result of it being more progressive politically than Austin.
No matter if Black people migrated to Houston in droves because of its manufacturing base it still produces a more culturally inclusive environment than Austin. That in itself produces a more “progressive” environment for Black and Brown people to prosper and contribute for the betterment of their communities in ways a city like Austin can not.
And while every city in America has a racist political history and PRESENT Austin’s 1928 master plan was a bit unique unlike any other city in America. Again that plan has impacted the city to this very day. I’ll give you an excerpt from an article written by a Hispanic journalist experience living in Austin.
Yeah that was an especially bad policy for Austin and the Smart Growth Initiative also played a crucial role in the displacement of the city's Black (and native Hispanic) population. And it wasn't really a beneficiary of the Great Migration like Houston was in the 1950s and 1960s either.
Quote:
And Super Predator Hillary Clinton isn’t really that progressive or different from Trump either imo.
Man you've gotta be kidding me and I'm honestly surprised folks are still saying this when right now we're living in the years 1918, 1968, and 2008 simultaneously. And folks give Hillary more flak for that comment than Biden or Sanders for actually voting for the bill (and writing it in the case of Biden). But that's another discussion for another day.
I can meet you halfway kinda sorta though. The Democratic and Republican establishment don't have a whole lot of daylight between them seeing as though they are both corporatist. Both are beholden to their particular lobbyists and the Dem establishment is often afraid to go in a more progressive direction because they fear backlash by a large contingent of voters. But sometimes they manage to get it done and suffer backlash in the short term but the people eventually come to accept the changes (or they get whittled down in a piecemeal fashion by the opposing party over time).
Yeah that was an especially bad policy for Austin and the Smart Growth Initiative also played a crucial role in the displacement of the city's Black (and native Hispanic) population. And it wasn't really a beneficiary of the Great Migration like Houston was in the 1950s and 1960s either.
Austin has always been a very white-collar city; the core industries throughout the city's history are government, higher education, and technology. It's definitely not a coincidence that the city had modest growth during the periods where growth was driven by manufacturing but has been a rocket ship ever since growth started being driven by the information economy.
IMO this has impacted the city's demographic history much more than any political aspects.
FWIW, in 2020 Houston has 6 at large council members compared to 11 representative council members, Austin has 10 representative council members and only a single at-large. (the mayor) Personally, I sort of prefer an at-large oriented system because it leads to policies that put the city first rather than petty neighborhood squabbles, but that's another convo. There are pros and cons of each.
I think all politics are dominated by those who actually show up to vote, and unfortunately in local elections that is a small minority. Traditionally, (even back when it was at-large) Austin has had a single AA member on the council. I'm not going to call that "progressive", but I would say it is consistent with the overall demographics of the city (8% AA).
I have zero issue with an AA preferring Houston over Austin for whatever reason. Certainly Houston is much cheaper and has a bigger middle class employment base. (Though for the record, AA's have substantially higher average incomes and less poverty in Austin than Houston.) It's understandable to want to be an environment where there are more people who look like yourself.
What I fundamentally disagree with is the idea that Houston's racial makeup is a result of it being more progressive politically than Austin.
I agree there are pros and cons to each. My point was that that system negatively impacted Austin’s Black community by and large. Even Austin today has acknowledged this. It’s just kind of too little too late.
And I agree, politics are dominated by those who show up but again the sole reason there is so little representation to local polls is in fact due to the 1928 master plan.
It is true AA’s have higher averages of income and less poverty in Austin than in Houston. Along with educational attainment. That is pretty common with high tech liberal cities. You see similar traits in a city like San Jose as well. But again cities like that fail to garner a mass influx of Black transplants. And it’s not as simple as “Blacks chose not to live there because it’s less”. It’s a snowball effect that leads to the lack of mass appeal.
No matter if Black people migrated to Houston in droves because of its manufacturing base it still produces a more culturally inclusive environment than Austin. That in itself produces a more “progressive” environment for Black and Brown people to prosper and contribute for the betterment of their communities in ways a city like Austin can not.
And while every city in America has a racist political history and PRESENT Austin’s 1928 master plan was a bit unique unlike any other city in America. Again that plan has impacted the city to this very day. I’ll give you an excerpt from an article written by a Hispanic journalist experience living in Austin.
Now with all that said, I do like Austin. I do think Austin does a lot of things better than other Texas cities like innovative ideas, entrepreneurship, local government, projects, environment, green spaces. Me and my Wife are in the entertainment industry part time so at one point we definitely considered moving to Austin. I also think Austin has that street level cohesive vibrancy that I find missing in a Houston or Dallas.
That’s why I totally get why a White Liberal would choose Austin over Houston. I don’t call myself a liberal or progressive(don’t believe in political titles,figures or parties) but a lot of what Austin offers fits me to a tee. That’s why I’m always in Austin almost every month plus business. But because I am Black and not into assimilating, Houston as far as Texas goes is the better fit for me and my family. Cultural wellness is very very important to me and many other Black people and POC. Austin is not providing you with that unless you don’t mind assimilating or can’t identify with your ethnicity.
And while RIGHT NOW I live in a very conservative Houston suburb( The Woodlands) there’s still some similarities I see with Austin that effects a poc experience. That similarity is White Privilege. No matter your political affiliation it still exist.
And Super Predator Hillary Clinton isn’t really that progressive or different from Trump either imo.
You think Hispanics are doing better in Houston than Austin?
Austin is 35% Hispanic vs Houston's 43%.
And for what it's worth, my Salvadoran-American friend here in New York went to both cities and much preferred Austin, he said that Houston was ghetto and reminded him of the bad parts of Long Island.
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