Can you be a "true" Texan if you weren't born here? (Houston: new home, school)

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Hate to tell you, man--but people do that almost everywhere. They definitely do it here in DC.

I'm sure they do. I have a cousin who's Texan conservative to the bone but wants to get into the Federal govt and build a political career. So essentially DC is his Hollywood. He hates DC (mostly the culture) but knows he has to bide his time. So yes, you're right ppl do this all over.

I love Los Angeles where I'm at now but the insufferably quirky a-types dominate the professional scene here and it's downright annoying but I have to do the same and bide my time.

Point well taken.

[metroxian]

Originally Posted by MCB79

Some people say that you're not a "true" Texan if you were born outside of the state. Others (like me) believe that if you move here and you are in the Texas "state of mind" and you love the state and claim it as your home, then you are a "true" Texan. I was actually born in Georgia, but my dad was from Texas and he moved all over the state until he moved to Georgia for work. We always went to visit family during holidays and I would go spend the summer with my aunt and uncle in Texas. I can remember begging my parents to move to TX when I was younger because of how much I loved it! Now, I've graduated high school and I'm here for college and I don't plan on leaving! I am now proud to call myself a proud resident of the great state of Texas and there is nowhere else I would rather call home!!! I may have been born in GA but my heart is in TX and I consider myself a TRUE Texan!

My grandmother and her husband, with a couple of kids left east Texas and crossed the state in a covered wagon a couple of years before 1900. Farmed some cotton, had a couple more kids had headed back to east Texas to raise some hogs, and have another kid - my mother. My dad grew up, barefoot, on the banks of a few central Texas rivers. They met and married in San Antonio. So I learned early who Texans are.

Best I can determine, that part of Georgia you grew up in is a remote county of Texas. Yes, it is as much a 'state of mind' as it is the dirt on your feet.

Welcome home
.

[FourFiftyFour]

I think people think too much into this Texan thing. If you want to be Texan, then you are.

I have lived in Texas all my life, but I do not call myself a Texan, because it just is not me. So I would think it could be the other way around... who cares if you were born here or not. If you are here, are proud of being here, and embrace it- then have at it.

[stan4]

Wasn't born here, but moved here 26 years ago at the age of 13.

I consider myself a Texan first and an American second.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by MCB79

Some people say that you're not a "true" Texan if you were born outside of the state. Others (like me) believe that if you move here and you are in the Texas "state of mind" and you love the state and claim it as your home, then you are a "true" Texan.

Where Do Texans Come From? Oklahoma To Mexico To Vietnam | KERA News

In 2012, 61 percent of Texans were born in the Lone Star State. But 17 percent were born outside the U.S. – that’s the highest it’s been since 1900.

In 1990, 65 percent of Texans were born in Texas, while 10 percent were born outside the country.
In 1970, 74 percent of Texans were born in Texas, while 4 percent were born outside the country.
In 1940, 79 percent of Texans were born in Texas, while 4 percent were born outside the country.

[Matthew Duck]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Guess who wasn't born in Texas:

Sam Houston (first president of the Republic of Texas and US senator)
Stephen F. Austin ("Father of Texas" and namesake of the capital)
David Crockett (hero of the Alamo and US representative)
Roger Staubach (Super Bowl-winning Dallas Cowboy quarterback)
Randy White (Super Bowl-winning Cowboy linebacker, late '70s)
Troy Aikman (Super-Bowl-winning Cowboy QB, early-mid '90s)
Jerry Jeff Walker (country singer heavily associated with Texas but really from NY state)
Mike Judge (creator of the greatest and most accurate Texas-based TV show of all time, King of the Hill. And Office Space.)

And both President Bushes.

[TheOverdog]

Lyle Lovett says "That's right, you're not from Texas, but Texas wants you anyway". The rule has been spoken and decreed.

[Gunion Powder]

I think you would atleast have to be raised in the state to be a true Texan. After all it is our childhood environment and experiences that mold us into the people we become.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by mega man

I think you would atleast have to be raised in the state to be a true Texan. After all it is our childhood environment and experiences that mold us into the people we become.

This x10.

I'm as liberal as they come but also feel very Texan at heart no matter where I live. That sense of certainty and relative calmness about life that others mistake as having a "swagger". The insistence on being social and friendly when it may be seen as weird and impolite in other countries. And the sense that you were raised in a more stable environment while the rest of the world is just winging it, and living off of the latest tends. Yeah the world sees that as being stubborn or iconoclast for the hell of it.

The state of mind is literally built on doing your own thing and not giving one flying flip what the rest of the world thinks. It's in our politics (both left and right), out country music, our rap music, our movies and art. It's truly a unique place.

[metroxian]

Originally Posted by mega man

I think you would atleast have to be raised in the state to be a true Texan. After all it is our childhood environment and experiences that mold us into the people we become.

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

This x10.

I'm as liberal as they come but also feel very Texan at heart no matter where I live. That sense of certainty and relative calmness about life that others mistake as having a "swagger". The insistence on being social and friendly when it may be seen as weird and impolite in other countries. And the sense that you were raised in a more stable environment while the rest of the world is just winging it, and living off of the latest tends. Yeah the world sees that as being stubborn or iconoclast for the hell of it.

The state of mind is literally built on doing your own thing and not giving one flying flip what the rest of the world thinks. It's in our politics (both left and right), out country music, our rap music, our movies and art. It's truly a unique place.

Are you saying as that 'Texas' born and raised that you would deny a status to another who would embrace that Texas attitude although that person wasn't 'born and raised within the borders' of the state?

The OP even states, '... my dad was from Texas and he moved all over the state until he moved to Georgia for work. We always went to visit family during holidays and I would go spend the summer with my aunt and uncle in Texas.'

How is that not as Texan for any person who seeks to claim the identity?

Even Colt McCoy was born in New Mexico but his father carried dirt from Texas to place under his bed. What really does it take to allow a person to embrace the spirit and reality of being from Texas? Before answering, consider the 'native' Texans you'd prefer were from some where else.
.