After watching the the ninth ( yes, count them. NINE) Republican Primary Presidential Debate, I don’t know why I was expecting anything different. Romney? Stand-offish and insincere. Cain? Likeable (maybe not so much after the allegations), yet unelectable. Santorum? Whiny. Bachmann? Irrelevant at this point. Perry? Well, he’s Perry. Time for a commercial break for his new album soon to be released:
Last night’s debate and Perry’s gaffe was enough to make me crawl out of blogger purgatory( shout-out to @MommyFactor for the nudge). As I watched (along with four million others) Perry take his best debate performance to that point (HIS best debate performance, not THE best debate performance) and shoot it all to H-E- Double Hockey Sticks with the 12-gauge shotgun that is his mouth.
Being a native Texan (Houston, to be exact), I cringe when I see Perry on television. I cringe because people around the country who are not familiar with our state can’t help but assume that he is representative of Texas and all its citizens.
Let me make this clear: RICK PERRY IS NOT TEXAS AND ALL TEXANS ARE NOT LIKE RICK PERRY.
Did I yell that loud enough? Texas is home to millions of people who do not walk, talk, act, or think like Perry. Yes, we have southwestern accents, but that’s no different from New Englanders, Midwesterners, or Californians. However, not every Texan has a severe pause in their thought processes. The ability to articulate is limited to the individual, not to the whole state. To Perry’s credit, he seems to do well when speaking off-the-cuff (except in the video below):
Okay, I actually kinda like this video. But I digress.
Here are some stereotypes I’d like to dispel for those of you that are not familiar with the Lone Star State:
- Not every Texan owns a ranch with oil wells in the back (This ain’t the “Beverly Hillbillies”).
- Not every Texan owns or wears a pair of cowboy boots (I rather sport my Chuck Taylors).
- We are not all racist (Some of my best friends are black).
- Not everyone in Texas drives a Ford F-150 (though they should).
- Most of Texas does not live like the folks on the ’80′s soap “Dallas”.
- Texas is not all desert and cactuses (or cacti, if you prefer). Texas ranges from beautiful greenery in the east, to the spectacular Hill Country central of the state, to arid in the western part of the state. The northern part of the state even gets snow most years.
- We don’t all ride horses to work at the big oil companies.
- For the record, I couldn’t tie a lasso if my life depended on it, let alone rope a bull with it.
- Not all Texans are closed-minded.
- Yes. We are aware that there are 49 other states in the Union.
Rick Perry aside, Texans are a very diverse people with diverse interests, ideas, and lifestyles. While there may be some in our state that fit the stereotypes that Rick Perry presents to the nation, we aren’t all like him. With the rich cultural mix that resides in Texas, we are in many ways like those in other parts of the the country. We are not Rick Perry. We are Texas.
Y’all come back now. Ya hear?
DMM
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