This is a meme I saw on a fellow educator’s FB page: I added the “I wish Magats…” line. I responded to his post with something like, “I wish Texas were safe for everyone.” He responded, “It’s pretty safe.”
Now, he and his family recently moved from the PNW to Texas. I only know him from mutuals, and we have a parasocial relationship. I do not know his political leanings. Most encounters have been positive, except for the time I thought he would enjoy What We Talk about When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon, but instead I got a copied review that was paragraphs-long by a man saying how the book was wrong, and he wouldn’t read it because of what a male reviewer wrote, and most of what the male reviewer wrote was, in fact, wrong, but then one of his buddies jumped in with one of the most fat-phobic and misogynistic comments, so the boys had a good laugh.
That was a long way around to say, “Ew.”
I am learning, sometimes the hard way, that my opinions and experiences have no merit or value to many others. When a 15-year-old girl screams at me that I’m using “appeal to authority” because she just learned this logical fallacy in her sophomore English class when I was sharing a life experience, then yes, I am beginning to build those hard-shell layers that 1. there is no safe place 2. my value is small and limited. And I’ll just write a blog post.
So…Texas.
I was born in Texas. My dad was born in Texas. My mom is from that area and lives there. So do my two sisters and their families. And aunts, uncles, cousins, and their families. My new daughter-in-law has relatives there. And guess what?
I will never, ever live there again. I fear for the families there, for the men, women, and children who want to live violence-free, with reproductive health available, medical attention when needed, and be able to go to school, shop, places of worship, public facilities without someone denying them life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness.
Even my conservative Methodist grandfather said of Ann Richards that she was a “pretty smart gal.”
The MAGAts, Libertarians, Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton, Ted Cruz, have been harming citizens of Texas for decades, not even touching on the generational, white supremacist trauma of Texas. Juneteenth is a celebration based on power, strength, and hope because a white slave owner LIED to his enslaved people.
These particular brands of Christo-Nationalism* (and reminder: this has NOTHING to do with Christianity or faith, just like Southern Democrats have NOTHING to do with freeing enslaved peoples)
If my acquaintance believes this is what makes “Texas pretty safe,” it terrifies me.
It’s heartbreaking when I see current adults buying into all of this. All of this violence, generational trauma, and harm. I will never understand it; like my Texas roots, it’s lost to me. And while I don’t pray, I do vote. And I try to educate. I’ve lived in about nine different states and one other country, and what is true about Texas is it does get into your soul.
And when you’re being mean to me, this is who you’re being mean to:
*This article does a poor job of explaining it, and comforts white supremacy: “Christian nationalists do not reject the First Amendment and do not advocate for theocracy, but they do believe that Christianity should enjoy a privileged position in the public square. The term “Christian nationalism,” is relatively new, and its advocates generally do not use it of themselves, but it accurately describes American nationalists who believe American identity is inextricable from Christianity.”