Common misconceptions about Texas

It seems like Texas is one of those places of the world that everyone thinks they know all about, without ever having been here or actually learning about at all. As a Texan, I'm going to clear up some of the ones I see most frequently:

1) Texas is mostly desert.

Wrong; Texas is a massive landmass with pine forest in the east gradually giving way to badland deserts in the far west and lots in between, but less than 10 percent of Texas is desert. The famous Saguaro giant cactus?



... does not grow in Texas, but Texas does have 600 miles of beach:



2) Texas is "the most Republican state in the U.S."

Wrong; a very recent Gallup poll showed that while 42 percent of Texans identify as Republicans, 38 percent identify as Democrats -- in fact, Gallup now calls Texas a toss-up state. In 2012, Barack Obama won almost every major city in Texas, including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin and El Paso, among many others.

3) Texans have a distinctive "twang."

This used to be true, but most Texans today don't have any more of a pronounced accent than residents of any other state. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, you're just as likely to hear a Mexican, Brooklyn, Vietnamese or even British accent as you're likely to hear someone talking like they just stepped out of a Western.

Today's Texas accent sounds much more like that of Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory, who was born and raised in the Houston area:



This woman has a very typical modern Texas accent:



4) Texans want to secede from the U.S.

Not more so than any other state, actually. Though Texas Gov. Rick Perry made some statements a few years ago that sounded secessionist, he clarified that he does not support secession. Polls routinely show that about 18-22 percent of Texans think we should secede, which is actually online with the national average of around 20 percent.

Drove from the Big Bend area in Texas to Houston one time, took 24 hours!!!! Whatever it is Ben, its big lol

Yes, Texas is very big -- I think the only other state that could happen to you in is if you tried to drive from the southern to northern borders of California. Of course, they wouldn't know because everybody in California just rides a surf board everywhere.

Ben_Reilly wrote:Yes, Texas is very big -- I think the only other state that could happen to you in is if you tried to drive from the southern to northern borders of California. Of course, they wouldn't know because everybody in California just rides a surf board everywhere.

Where does Lone star come from as inon the flag and lone star state etc?

Ben_Reilly wrote:Yes, Texas is very big -- I think the only other state that could happen to you in is if you tried to drive from the southern to northern borders of California. Of course, they wouldn't know because everybody in California just rides a surf board everywhere.

LOL Drove the coast road from Los Angles to Santa Cruz, San Francisco, up to Carmel and a bit further on. That went on for ever too!

NemsAgain wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:Yes, Texas is very big -- I think the only other state that could happen to you in is if you tried to drive from the southern to northern borders of California. Of course, they wouldn't know because everybody in California just rides a surf board everywhere.

Where does Lone star come from as inon the flag and lone star state etc?

The Lone Star comes from the short period when Texas was an independent nation, right after winning independence from Mexico but before joining the U.S. Essentially the single star on what was then our national flag represented the unity of the Republic of Texas.

Ben_Reilly wrote:

NemsAgain wrote:

Where does Lone star come from as inon the flag and lone star state etc?

The Lone Star comes from the short period when Texas was an independent nation, right after winning independence from Mexico but before joining the U.S. Essentially the single star on what was then our national flag represented the unity of the Republic of Texas.

It was part of Mexico wasn't it, now they get all hot under the collar if mexicans want to live there.

Sassy wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

NemsAgain wrote:

Where does Lone star come from as inon the flag and lone star state etc?

The Lone Star comes from the short period when Texas was an independent nation, right after winning independence from Mexico but before joining the U.S. Essentially the single star on what was then our national flag represented the unity of the Republic of Texas.

It was part of Mexico wasn't it, now they get all hot under the collar if mexicans want to live there.

Well, not so much. Actually more than a third of the Texas population is of Mexican origin, and while you see a lot of states that are hostile toward Mexicans, they tend to be further north. In fact, I saw more racial discrimination against Latinos in general in California. Here in Texas, Mexican people own businesses, occupy upper management positions (my direct supervisor is of Mexican heritage), etc. This place is just down the road from me:

http://www.sancheztkd.com/

Is everything really bigger in Texas?

Queen Of Hearts wrote:Is everything really bigger in Texas?

Haha, I ran across a joke about that that I liked -- "It's said that everything's twice as big in Texas. No, that's not really true. Everything is actually 1.85 times bigger in Texas -- we round it up to two."

You know in relation to Texan becoming independent again I've heard you're one of the few states that can actually afford to because for every dollar the feds give Texas Texas gives two dollars.

Big Texas fish:



Big Texas snake:



Big Texas wind farm:



Big Tex:



Big Tex protesting the Vietnam War:



(Yes, if there is a Hell, that's where I'm going.)

Queen Of Hearts wrote:You know in relation to Texan becoming independent again I've heard you're one of the few states that can actually afford to because for every dollar the feds give Texas Texas gives two dollars.

Maybe; there are actually a number of states that pay in more than they take back -- we're one of the few Republican-leaning states that does. But we can't legally secede any more than any other state could. There is a process whereby we could split into up to 5 states, though.

Here's more info on that: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/states-federal-taxes-spending-charts-maps

Ben_Reilly wrote:

NemsAgain wrote:

Where does Lone star come from as inon the flag and lone star state etc?

The Lone Star comes from the short period when Texas was an independent nation, right after winning independence from Mexico but before joining the U.S. Essentially the single star on what was then our national flag represented the unity of the Republic of Texas.

Really, well I never knew that, thanks Ben

NemsAgain wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

NemsAgain wrote:

Where does Lone star come from as inon the flag and lone star state etc?

The Lone Star comes from the short period when Texas was an independent nation, right after winning independence from Mexico but before joining the U.S. Essentially the single star on what was then our national flag represented the unity of the Republic of Texas.

Really, well I never knew that, thanks Ben

No problem! I don't know if you've heard of the Six Flags amusement parks? They're huge in North America, but the company started with the Six Flags Over Texas amusement park. So named because six national flags have flown over Texas:


Spain


France (this one's the Kingdom of France flag from that era)


Mexico


Republic of Texas


United States


Confederate States during our Civil War (the more familiar "stars and bars" flown by rednecks and racists was actually the battle flag of the Confederacy)

"Only steers and queers come from Texas, Private Cowboy, and you don't look like a steer".........

Best.movie.line.ever.

Cass wrote:"Only steers and queers come from Texas, Private Cowboy, and you don't look like a steer".........

Best.movie.line.ever.

 :-:cawg:-: :-:cawg:-: :-:cawg:-: :-:cawg:-: :-:cawg:-: :-:cawg:-: :-:cawg:-: :-:cawg:-: :-:cawg:-: :-:cawg:-: 

Ben_Reilly wrote:

NemsAgain wrote:

Really, well I never knew that, thanks Ben

No problem! I don't know if you've heard of the Six Flags amusement parks? They're huge in North America, but the company started with the Six Flags Over Texas amusement park. So named because six national flags have flown over Texas:


Spain


France (this one's the Kingdom of France flag from that era)


Mexico


Republic of Texas


United States


Confederate States during our Civil War (the more familiar "stars and bars" flown by rednecks and racists was actually the battle flag of the Confederacy)

I never knew Texas had such a rich history! Fascinating.

@ Cass agreed about the line! xxx

Yeah, there's a lot more to it as well. Delving into the history of Texas, you can find everything from French communists who settled near Dallas and still have an area named after their failed settlement (Reunion) to stories of German atheists who built traditional Texas ranch houses in central Texas and filled them with rare musical instruments and works of art

Ben_Reilly wrote:
Yes, Texas is very big -- I think the only other state that could happen to you in is if you tried to drive from the southern to northern borders of California. Of course, they wouldn't know because everybody in California just rides a surf board everywhere.

  

TEXAS will still easily fit within New South Wales ~ with a lot of room to spare...

Sassy wrote:
Drove from the Big Bend area in Texas to Houston one time, took 24 hours!!!!   Whatever it is Ben, its big lol

  

IF I had a car that slow, I would shoot it to put it out of it's misery !!!

 ::dedhrs:: 

Ben_Reilly wrote:

Queen Of Hearts wrote:
You know in relation to Texan becoming independent again I've heard you're one of the few states that can actually afford to because for every dollar the feds give Texas Texas gives two dollars.

Maybe; there are actually a number of states that pay in more than they take back -- we're one of the few Republican-leaning states that does. But we can't legally secede any more than any other state could. There is a process whereby we could split into up to 5 states, though.

  

WITH the second biggest state economy, after California and ahead of NewYork, Texas is one of the few US states big enough to be compared as a "middling sized" country in it's own right...

IT'S $$$ 1.5 TRILLION-plus  $$$ annual GDP will place it in the same league as Australia, South Korea and Spain  in international comparisons.

MEANING that Texas is one of the 4 or 5 US states that could comfortably survive as an independent state, IF it were ever to be 'cast adrift' by your fellow Americans..   

Beekeeper wrote:

Sassy wrote:
Drove from the Big Bend area in Texas to Houston one time, took 24 hours!!!!   Whatever it is Ben, its big lol

  

IF I had a car that slow, I would shoot it to put it out of it's misery !!!

 ::dedhrs:: 

I thought of that joke too!

One of TEXAS'S 10 most wanted




A good old boy named Leo Click Jnr.

He was guilty of a hit-and-run in which people died; glad they caught him.

One of the best golfers comes from Texas, Tom Watson. He was my golfing hero when I was a boy.

Ben_Reilly wrote:He was guilty of a hit-and-run in which people died; glad they caught him.

Lets not mention the other 9 as they ALL seem to be Hispanic.

And what would you have us learn from that? All Hispanic people are bad?

Ben_Reilly wrote:Yeah, there's a lot more to it as well. Delving into the history of Texas, you can find everything from French communists who settled near Dallas and still have an area named after their failed settlement (Reunion) to stories of German atheists who built traditional Texas ranch houses in central Texas and filled them with rare musical instruments and works of art

"Remember the Alamo "......

Seriously you are right....there is a hell of a lot of history. My 2 Texas cookbooks are based on the German settlers...yummy.

Did you ever read the Texas Illiad? Good boom.