Intro to Texas Government: What does it mean to be Texan? What does it mean to be an American?

I'm teaching a midwinter Texas Government class and I'm pretty sure you would like the notes to the introductory lecture.

Hi all – I'm Dr. Karra, this is Texas Government.

I want to start with the question that's the heart of the course: What does it mean to be Texan? Some people are going to say the answer to that is obvious–being Texan is whatever you want it to mean. Or maybe it means you have to live in the state a certain amount of time. Do you have to be born here? Or it could mean a deep love of things we consider traditionally Texan: cowboy boots, Whataburger, Six Flags, bluebonnets, Austin City Limits. There are, of course, many more untested definitions out there.

I think you can see the answers to this question are a mess. And now someone else comes in and says none of this matters. Who cares about what it means to be Texan? Shouldn't we talk about the Railroad Commission or the state budget? Aren't there matters of power to be discussed as opposed to imaginary conceptions of identity?

Whatever one's personal politics, a state where the Governor constantly talks about a secure border is one where Texan identity, e.g. "what it means to be Texan," is a question with enormous political ramifications. It is the question of who does or who does not belong. I want you to read Steve Lovelace's meditation "What Does It Mean to be a Texan?" and think about other parts of Texas culture with what I've just talked about in mind. What are the expectations you feel with regard to being Texan? Do you feel you have to be independent in certain ways? Do you feel like there are traditions you must respect? What is the weight of those expectations?

I'm originally from New Jersey. Everyone there has seen The Godfather, Goodfellas, The Sopranos, and every other mob related flick or show 1000 times each. Sometimes this reaches high art. In Goodfellas' third act, angry, murderous people reveal themselves to be cartoon characters unable to deal with reality. It hits you like a truck how much power some people can have and how incredibly unaware they can be. But I don't think it's the healthiest thing to romanticize organized crime. It leads quite a few people to believe you can only get ahead by stepping on someone else. That's cruel and horribly impractical. If you are the person who always gets mad and tries to hurt others, you lose the ability to be taken seriously.

In a similar manner, can you discuss the good and bad of Texas culture as you see it? What are some things you think others could learn from Texas? What are things which we can do better?

While you're thinking about this, it is worth going further and asking what it means to be an American. I've provided Porochista Khakpour's "Just (Don't) Do It" as an introduction to that question. It's a story about the pressure you can put on yourself in order to believe you're making the most of this country. People do amazing amounts of work and never feel like they're doing enough. We often do work ourselves to death, blinding ourselves to the question of what really matters. Does being American, you think, create expectations similar to being Texan? Or different ones? An insight you might find compelling: the journalist Chris Hooks talked about how Texas nationalism looks to America the way America looks to the rest of the world. Is Texas nationalism–is Texas identity–American patriotism on steroids?

In addition to all these questions, questions which demand self-reflection and careful consideration of what you've already seen, I've assigned a video. Crash Course: War and Expansion #17 goes quickly through the early history of Texas, but it raises a topic continuous with the readings I've just described. Namely, how do we understand the early Texans? Many of them were willing to fight and die for slavery; it's almost tempting to think that the past has no claim on us. But they founded the state in which we live and gave it the symbols and myths which we still use, e.g. "Remember the Alamo!" So there's a complicated past to work through and think about–the ambitions and expectations of others–as we reflect on what shapes us at this moment.

In future lectures, we'll talk about current events in Texas, the state constitution, how the Texas legislature and executive work, civil rights and liberties, matters of class and the budget. For now, the invitation is to reflect on what you already know and get a sense of how Texan identity operates. I promise you that you'll need this in order to understand why this state works the way it does.