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View Poll Results: Can you be a "true" Texan if you were born elsewhere?
Yes! 47 53.41%
No 25 28.41%
Maybe (Explain) 16 18.18%
Voters: 88. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 06-12-2015, 10:07 AM
 
Location: San Antonio
5,287 posts, read 5,789,738 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mentallect View Post
You seem mad that I have "chosen to disagree with" it, though...? And maybe "stupid" wasn't the best word to use. I should have used "closed-minded" instead...
Don't know how you got that idea.
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Old 06-12-2015, 10:13 AM
 
Location: New-Dentist Colony
5,759 posts, read 10,725,241 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mentallect View Post
That's the biggest one right there. Basically, according to some native Texans in this thread, a 5 year old kid who was born and raised in Texas is more of a "true" Texan than an adult who has lived in Texas by choice for, say, 20 straight years, and who has adopted all of the cultures and traditions of Texas and sincerely loves Texas? That's stupid as all get out.
I agree it doesn't make sense to claim that someone who has lived in Texas by choice for 20 years and embraced the culture does not qualify as an adoptive Texan.

As to a person raised in Texas: When people ask you "Where are you from?" they're trying to find out the place that shaped you most. If you were in Texas from age 5-15, odds are it will end up being more influential on you than any other place. I would say such a person is a Texan--even if they later say they hated living there. I myself, in my 20s, was sick to death of Texas after having spend the first 23 years of my life there--but even then, I was still a Texan.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mentallect View Post
What about native Texans who are born and raised in Texas but hate Texas and hate living in Texas? There are plenty of those, and plenty of Texas transplants who love and embrace and celebrate Texas way more than many born and raised Texans do.
I can celebrate Ireland all I want, buy a kilt and a set of bagpipes, drink nothing but Guiness, and join up with Riverdance--but that doesn't make me an Irishman.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mega man View Post
Can't even name one...Boot Scootin Boogie?
I hereby revoke your Texan card!
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Old 06-12-2015, 10:15 AM
 
2,997 posts, read 3,103,938 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlingtonian View Post

I can celebrate Ireland all I want, buy a kilt and a set of bagpipes, drink nothing but Guiness, and join up with Riverdance--but that doesn't make me an Irishman.
Yeah, but you don't live in Ireland, and probably never have. I am talking about people who LIVE in Texas.
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Old 06-12-2015, 10:18 AM
 
Location: San Antonio
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlingtonian View Post
I hereby revoke your Texan card!
Sorry, not a big country fan. Many Texans aren't after all.
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Old 06-12-2015, 10:21 AM
 
Location: New-Dentist Colony
5,759 posts, read 10,725,241 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mentallect View Post
Yeah, but you don't live in Ireland, and probably never have. I am talking about people who LIVE in Texas.
Nope, never have. But if I do, I will embrace being an adoptive Irishman as much as possible! The native Irish will roll their eyes and cross the street to get away from me. "Aye, there's that wee bloke with his tam o'shanter and brogue he borrowed from a '60s police drama. Let's get outta here before he tries to make crack with us."

I think people in this thread are arguing two different things: "native Texan" and "adoptive Texan." I'm a native Texan, but if anything, I think the choice to live in Texas as an adult is more demonstrative of a real preference for the state and, if anything, should count for more than just having been born and raised there, neither of which the person had a choice in.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mega man View Post
Sorry, not a big country fan. Many Texans aren't after all.
I didn't listen to any of it till college. Grew up on Depeche Mode and Billy Idol. Now I'm a huge fan of the old stuff, plus a few of the newer artists (newer being 80s/90s). I bet there's country you'd like. Start with the Johnny Cash version of NIN's "Hurt." (Or any of the Cash cover albums from the '00s.)

Last edited by Carlingtonian; 06-12-2015 at 10:33 AM..
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Old 06-12-2015, 10:34 AM
 
Location: San Antonio
5,287 posts, read 5,789,738 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlingtonian View Post
I didn't listen to any of it till college. Grew up on Depeche Mode and Billy Idol. Now I'm a huge fan of the old stuff, plus a few of the newer artists (newer being 80s/90s). I bet there's country you'd like. Start with the Johnny Cash version of NIN's "Hurt." (Or any of the Cash cover albums from the '00s.)
I like "Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood. I know it by heart, too. Does that count?

I actually don't mind the genre at all, but I'm just not an avid listener.
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Old 06-12-2015, 10:37 AM
 
Location: New-Dentist Colony
5,759 posts, read 10,725,241 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mega man View Post
I like "Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood. I know it by heart, too. Does that count?

I actually don't mind the genre at all, but I'm just not an avid listener.
See, you're more current than I am; I don't know that one.
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Old 06-12-2015, 10:51 AM
 
2,997 posts, read 3,103,938 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlingtonian View Post
I'm a native Texan, but if anything, I think the choice to live in Texas as an adult is more demonstrative of a real preference for the state and, if anything, should count for more than just having been born and raised there, neither of which the person had a choice in.
...and that's all I'm saying.

If anything, for quite a few born and raised Texans, Texas has become like a gentrified neighborhood; they hated it and wanted to bury their heads in the sand when it was less popular and was more associated with negative images and stereotypes, but now that it's in the middle of a huge period of growth, has a much more positive reputation, and people are moving here from everywhere else, it gives them a chance to try to look cool for all the transplants by saying in hindsight, "Well I was born and raised in Texas, so I'm a TRUE Texan!!!"

It shouldn't be a "native Texan vs. adopted Texan" thing as long as the former and the latter both love and embrace the state and the culture, along with the "Texas state of mind" that Texans are so famous for all the world over.
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Old 06-12-2015, 10:57 AM
 
Location: San Antonio
5,287 posts, read 5,789,738 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mentallect View Post
...and that's all I'm saying.

If anything, for quite a few born and raised Texans, Texas has become like a gentrified neighborhood; they hated it and wanted to bury their heads in the sand when Texas was less popular and was more associated with negative stereotypes, but now that it's in the middle of a huge period of growth, has a much more positive reputation, and people are moving here from everywhere else, it gives them a chance to try to look cool for all the transplants and to say in hindsight, "Well I was born and raised in Texas, so I'm a TRUE Texan!!!"

It shouldn't be a "native Texan vs. adopted Texan" thing as long as the former and the latter both love and embrace the state and the culture, along with the "Texas state of mind" that Texans are so famous for all the world over.
Sure, but I haven't seen any native Texans here try to claim that we're better than anyone. My only point is, by being raised here, I experienced Texas in a way that someone who moved here later in life never did. That does make me more of an authentic Texan, in my eyes.
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Old 06-12-2015, 11:02 AM
 
Location: Wonderland
67,650 posts, read 60,925,505 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlingtonian View Post
Henry VIII?



But seriously: Great post. One can certainly be an adoptive Texan if they spend a few years living in the state. If it's good enough for in-state tuition, it's good enough for me. (And I'm a third-gen native-born Texan--weaned on Dr. Pepper, with a Whataburger tattoo in a sensitive place.) Culturally, I think it comes down to:


  • Affinity for Fritos, especially in pie form
  • Knowledge of at least three Willie Nelson songs
  • Ability to put the apostrophe in the correct place in "Y'all"
  • Regular readership of Texas Monthly OR (if over 70) Texas Highways
  • Proper pronunciation of "pecan" and "Brazos"
  • Time served--at least five non-college years spent in the state by choice, without intent to leave
I qualify on all counts.

And I have even kissed Willie Nelson on the lips - that alone should have earned me honorary Texan status.
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