Why are Texas people so proud? (Austin, Beaumont: living in, restaurants, price)

[Lovely95]

Why don't you go back to school and learn America's history. I think this whole country is ashamed of the past.

[An0nym0us88]

Originally Posted by Lovely95

Why don't you go back to school and learn America's history. I think this whole country is ashamed of the past.

That is very true. This is what Liberals often thinks, that is why they want "Change".

[solytaire]

When I have gone out of state, people are always intrigued by the fact that Im from Texas. They treat you so much different IMO. I found it weird actually. Im not overly prideful of Texas...Just highly grateful for it...thats all. Texas is precious.

[doctorjef]

Writing as a natural born Texan who has lived the majority of his life in the Lone Star State, but who also spent part of his childhood elsewhere and has now been away from Texas for the last five years (I'm almost 55, to put this in perspective), I think it's important to remember that most people have feelings of affection for the place they call home, even if those places seem retrograde, dull or dumpy to people who live elsewhere. Most places have more to offer than first meets the eye. Texans, I think, often just have a somewhat magnified sense of identification with, and affection, for their own state. Texas is so vast, varied and diverse, with so much happening there that it truly is rather mind-boggling (of course, one has to be aware of this and not coming from a perspective of ignorance and/or stereotyped presuppositions). I forget who, but some writer once called Texans the "hyper-Americans", which attitudinally I think hits pretty close to the truth (both for good and bad, perhaps). Anyway, I tend to think that Texan pride differs from the pride and affection that other people feel in their states quantitatively rather than qualitatively.

As to negative stereotypes about Texas, some of these have been propogated by the television and motion picture entertainment industry. I'm very tired of disabusing people - especially people who live outside of the US - of their notions that Texas is a big, dry and dusty desert. Also, the tv serial "Dallas" undoubtedly did untold damage to the state's image worldwide. Although people watched (and in syndication still watch) the programme for its entertainment value, the image of people in the state that it conveys is pretty bad. In some respects, Texas has also been to blame for its some of its bad rep -- being the capital punishment capital of America (and practically of the world, outside of the Peoples' Republic of China) doesn't exactly cast the state in a positive light.

We'd all be better off if people everywhere would get over the mentality of "we're the bestest", as well as the tendency to demonise others from outside their own borders.

[Cupcake77]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

, Texas has also been to blame for its some of its bad rep -- being the capital punishment capital of America (and practically of the world, outside of the Peoples' Republic of China) doesn't exactly cast the state in a positive light.

.

They don't apologize for anything. You got a lot of guns around here? 'Yeah!' OK, that's not the response I was looking for. I hear you execute a lot of people too? 'Yeah!' Alright, I'm outta here.

Louis Ramey - No Apologies in Texas | Louis Ramey | Jokes.com

[TexasHorseLady]

Okay, that was funny (even though "born again" and "Pope" don't really belong in the same sentence).

[TT Dave]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Writing as a natural born Texan who has lived the majority of his life in the Lone Star State, but who also spent part of his childhood elsewhere and has now been away from Texas for the last five years (I'm almost 55, to put this in perspective), I think it's important to remember that most people have feelings of affection for the place they call home, even if those places seem retrograde, dull or dumpy to people who live elsewhere. Most places have more to offer than first meets the eye. Texans, I think, often just have a somewhat magnified sense of identification with, and affection, for their own state. Texas is so vast, varied and diverse, with so much happening there that it truly is rather mind-boggling (of course, one has to be aware of this and not coming from a perspective of ignorance and/or stereotyped presuppositions). I forget who, but some writer once called Texans the "hyper-Americans", which attitudinally I think hits pretty close to the truth (both for good and bad, perhaps). Anyway, I tend to think that Texan pride differs from the pride and affection that other people feel in their states quantitatively rather than qualitatively.

As to negative stereotypes about Texas, some of these have been propogated by the television and motion picture entertainment industry. I'm very tired of disabusing people - especially people who live outside of the US - of their notions that Texas is a big, dry and dusty desert. Also, the tv serial "Dallas" undoubtedly did untold damage to the state's image worldwide. Although people watched (and in syndication still watch) the programme for its entertainment value, the image of people in the state that it conveys is pretty bad. In some respects, Texas has also been to blame for its some of its bad rep -- being the capital punishment capital of America (and practically of the world, outside of the Peoples' Republic of China) doesn't exactly cast the state in a positive light.

We'd all be better off if people everywhere would get over the mentality of "we're the bestest", as well as the tendency to demonise others from outside their own borders.

You make some good points there, especially regarding the stereotyping of Texas in the entertainment industry. I have rarely, if ever, seen potrayals of Texas or Texans themselves being cast in a positive way. It almost seems like filmmakers go out of their way to cast us in a bad light. Despite the vast diversity of environments in Texas (the scenic hill country, the plains, the beautiful forests of east Texas, the semi-tropical coastal region, etc.), like you said, this state is usually shown as nothing more than a barren desert wasteland like it is in only the western part of the state. Texans themselves are usually portrayed as being ignorant, backward, or fanatics of various sorts. Over the years when I've traveled to other states I've always been amazed at how many people believe that stuff.

For example, I heard this guy who had never been to Texas talking one time about how shocked he was when he flew to San Antonio for the first time. He couldn't get over how green it was there, he thought the plane had been diverted elsewhere while he was sleeping..LOL. He thought SA would be in the usual dry, dusty desert he'd seen in the movies and that there would literally be cowboys everywhere. When I meet people that have these stereotypes I always encourage them to visit the various regions and cities in Texas in person before they make any judgements about the state.

[cobolt]

All I've got to say is that although I was not born or raised in Texas, I lived there for 13 years and consider myself a Texan. I turned in my yankee papers at the state line. Work has taken me out of the state but I'm working on getting back, and once I do, I'm there for good. Texas and her people are home to me. If an outsider comes to Texas with preconceived notions and a closed mind, he'll be disappointed. If you come in with arms wide open, Texas will steal your heart!!!

[doctorjef]

The truth is, I think these sentiments really can be expressed in respect to a lot of places. Not too long ago I posted about a BofA guy that I met at our local pub here in northern Delaware. He was from North Carolina and acted like his posting for a couple of years to Delaware was the worst thing in the world. IMO he was full of unexpressed stereotypes and more explicitly hadn't bothered to explore the state in which he had been living for the past six months. This is a mostly rural, agricultural, marsh-land and seashore state on an under-developed penninsula in the mid-atlantic region, but his attitude seemed to convey some sort of foreign Yankee territory. It just wasn't reality. You can live all sorts of places and find marvelous things if you open yourself to them. If you can't do that, you will be unhappy.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by Cupcake77

They don't apologize for anything. You got a lot of guns around here? 'Yeah!' OK, that's not the response I was looking for. I hear you execute a lot of people too? 'Yeah!' Alright, I'm outta here.

Louis Ramey - No Apologies in Texas | Louis Ramey | Jokes.com

Why would we need to apologize for either one of those things?

It would be the same if a Texan went to Yankee Land and said, "So I hear y'all kill a lot of babies around here." What the hell kind of answer are you expecting to hear?