I came to Texas in 1966 to teach about media at TCU. No one I met at the time asked me about my politics. I mostly found independent-thinking people who did not want any government to mess with their personal freedom. They believed in self-reliance, and their own ability to take care of themselves and their families. Some were important oil people, others were professors. All cherished their personal freedom. No one ever criticized how I understood and taught my subject-matter. Academic freedom was alive and well.
When I first represented TCU in Austin, the legislature was made up of both liberal and conservative Democrats. Gradually conservatives became Republicans… and eventually the most extreme of them went about gerrymandering voting districts in order to remain in power.
Over the years, conservative politicians eventually took control of social issues: these include women’s reproductive rights, using tax-supported vouchers to support private schools, taking away control of important city issues, using tax breaks to recruit businesses into the state, using reduced property taxes to divert attention away from other issues, making private owners responsible for flaws in the electric grid, taking decision-making away from librarians, stating what subjects should and should not be taught in schools and colleges, and setting what gender policies are appropriate for every family, and much more.
Where are the “real Texans” I found in 1966?
Good post…and the same story has played out in Florida since I arrived in 1965. Many of those folks valued their independence and government support rather than government interference and have now allowed the
government to assert itself in the most personal and intimate parts of our lives.
Larry, still here, but fewer in number and less vocal, in order to avoid being attacked by the far right who know no boundaries
I am still here!!
Great analysis and observations. How and why Texas has changed should be the next lesson topic