Kerrville prejudices toward non-native TXns? (Houston, Dallas: sales, house, transfer)

[McHopper]

I honestly don't mean to offend any Texans, but I have been wondering this for a long time. Do Texans still hate non-native Texans and treat them as
second class citizens?
Here's why I ask: I would entertain the idea of retiring in the Kerrville
or Boerne areas except for the memories I have of how we were treated
when we lived in Austin in the 80's.
My husband and I transferred by choice, not necessity to Austin after
having visited there a few months prior.
We were harrassed constantly by native Texans, who upon hearing us speak
a couple of undrawled words, demanded "Where are you from?" or "Where y'all from?" and "You sound like a YANKEE" This was not gentle curiosity, this
was confrontational.
There were bumper stickers on cars with slogans saying, 'NO YANKEES' or 'Go Home Yankees'.
The people we worked with were not bad after they got past our accents
(or the lack thereof), but sales people and others we met were brutal.
I met many many Texans who in their 20's and 30's had never been north of
Dallas! I couldn't understand the hatred toward us. They were truly resentful
of anyone who moved into 'their' country. We finally gave up and moved
to Oklahoma(very nice people there) and later back to upper midwest then
later still moving to the southwest states of AZ and CA.

So here's my question to y'all now: Do you natives still treat people without
a Texas accent today in a hostile manner and just wish we would all leave
your country?

AND

Does anyone with a midwest accent have a positive experience of assimilation in a Hill Country city or town that they can share to give me
some hope?

thank you in advance

[Steel Man]

I was originally from S. Calif before I joined the Air Force back in 1972. I've lived in Texas during the early to mid-70's, late 70's to early 80's, and permanently since 1990. I lived in San Angelo, Abilene, and San Antonio and have traveled through most of the state. During all this time I never had one person ask about my lack of accent and Texans have always been friendly. If you're friendly to native Texans, then they'll be friendly to you. There have been a lot of non-Texans moving here and I haven't heard of any adverse reactions (Kerville and Boerne included).

I have just one final statement: Come on back, hear!

[1StarRanch]

You said Austin, and you answered your own question.

[annie_annie]

A lot of native Texans do not have accents. Especially those born in larger cities like Austin and San Antonio. I lived in PA for a short time and every time someone found out I was from Texas they said, "But you don't have an accent!" So I'm not 100% convinced that they were acting hostile towards you based solely on your accent (or lack thereof). You're going to run into the whole "damn yankee" thing anywhere you live in Texas. You're going to see bumper stickers like that anywhere you live in Texas.

If you're going to retire in Texas and being asked where you are from or seeing anti-yankee bumper stickers bothers you, you will either need to grow thicker skin or retire elsewhere. With that being said I really think that once you move and get to know a lot of people in town, that you won't have any problems. As Steel Man said, if you're nice to us then we'll be nice to you.

I think you'll have better luck in Kerrville than you did in Austin. Austin is known for being a very liberal city however they are very conscious about status (where you're from, what kind of house do you live in, what kind of car you drive). People in Kerrville aren't as status conscious. They couldn't care less if you drive a fancy car or a beat up old car from the 1970s.

[Paka]

Wow...can't help but wonder why someone would be interested in moving back to a place they felt so unwelcomed and apparently felt uncomfortable enough to move from the first time willingly???

If it is strictly a cost of living for retirement type of decision, since you enjoyed the folks in Oklahoma so much, why would you not consider that as a retirement consideration???

I am a native Texan and have NEVER seen a Yankee go Home or No Yankee sticker, nor have I ever seen or heard anyone acting the way you were treated...ever.

[Chaka]

I'm definitely non-native but am quite comfortable in San Antonio.

However, I have heard Kerrville described as less than positive. I used to work there and loved the area, but a number of my more liberal colleagues (who were native Texans) didn't really like living there. At the time they preferred Boerne (Boerne has changed a lot in the last few years, though, so I'm not sure if that still holds true).

[Texan in Virginia]

I was born in Ohio and moved to Georgia at age 4. After living in Texas for only three years (UT Austin student from age 18-21), we moved to Rhode Island (husband served in the Navy).

People there teased me about my Texas accent and many called me "Tex!"

We've lived mostly in Virginia since 1973 but my heart has always been in Texas. We spend several weeks a year at Canyon Lake and everyone notices my "accent" when we return to Virginia.

I'm thinking what they are hearing is my love for the area.

I can't wait to live in Texas full time! I have never been treated any way but kindly in any part of the state nor have I ever seen any bumper stickers about Yankees.

Lori

I wasn't born in Texas, but I'm getting there as fast as I can!

[McHopper]

To answer your question Paka, about why I would possibly subject myself to
the same discrminination I felt in the 80's.

Beauty of the land (more like where I grew up, without the snowstorms)
Weather (worse than where I am, but better than most places)
Monetary benefits (cost of living for food, housing and gasoline)
Clean air (high cancer rates just aren't my thing)
Clean water (we should all be able to drink from the tap)
Great weather for gardening (tomatoes, rhubarb,flowers)
Better proximity to family in midwest than where we are on west coast (hard to drive it with gas this high, but still about 800 mi closer)

AND the number one reason---

Cleaner roadsides! (sounds dumb, but I despise seeing trash, and much
prefer seeing TX wildflowers)

So there you have it

The only negative thing about the move there would be the constant
feeling of being an outsider.
I'll tell you one example of what happened to us in Austin.
I went to Sears to pick up portraits of my young son and the girl there
heard me speak. She said, "Where are you from?" I said, "Austin", thinking
she wanted to verify my address. We had lived there a year by then.
But she said, "NO, where are you REALLY FROM?!?"
Obviously, you don't forget that kind of stuff.

thanks for the responses everyone

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by McHopper

The only negative thing about the move there would be the constant
feeling of being an outsider.
I'll tell you one example of what happened to us in Austin.
I went to Sears to pick up portraits of my young son and the girl there
heard me speak. She said, "Where are you from?" I said, "Austin", thinking
she wanted to verify my address. We had lived there a year by then.
But she said, "NO, where are you REALLY FROM?!?"
Obviously, you don't forget that kind of stuff.

Did she say it rudely?
Otherwise, I have a hard time seeing why this is so offensive. I always get questions about where I'm from when in downtown SA as it's a tourist town. As we live less than 1mile from downtown (and an easy walk), I enjoy saying " a few blocks away."

My husband is not from the US and he has an obvious accent. People always ask where he's from. Yes, he lives in SA and has done for a number of years, but he's not 'from' here. I'm not from SA either. I used to have a weird accent (mishmash of many different ones having lived in multiple countries and picking up the local accent too easily). People always asked where I was from. Now it's mellowed a bit, but i still get the question.

No one's ever asked it rudely though.

[chipsndip]

There isn't nearly the prejudice that there used to be - My mom was from the midwest, and heard a lot of "yankee" comments (joking, half-joking, or rude - it's hard to judge). With more and more businesses moving to Texas and the large influx of non-natives, it's much more common and less "strange" to locals to have people from out of state move here. I still occasionally hear people talk about California - or New York City - with a little bit of derision - but never hear comments about people who live here now. In fact, some of the rudest comments I've heard lately have been on this board - look at some of the "all of the Californians are moving here" threads for examples of that.

Obviously, my recent experience has been in larger cities than Kerrville. (I grew up in a smaller town, but even relatives in Houston made "yankee" comments back then). But I don't think you'd have any trouble with the attitudes you experienced before...