The Lone Star State conjures up many myths and legends. Thoughts immediately turn to the defiant, heroic, and tragic last stand at The Alamo, its nearly decade-long existence as an independent republic (1836-1845), its vast frontier once roamed by cowboys and their longhorns, and its abundant wealth typified by the gusher at Spindletop at the turn of the twentieth century. Myths and legends persist in a state as big as Texas. Nonetheless, the contemporary setting is vastly removed from the historical highlights of this remarkably diverse and dynamic land. Now, Anglos¹ are a declining share of a multiethnic population consisting of a sizable portion of African Americans, a booming Latino constituency, and a comparably small but impressive rise in Asian residents. The sprawling landscape belies the reality that over eight in ten Texans inhabit urban areas, a trend underway since World War II (Key 1949). And the economy is so much more than oil; a diverse portfolio of high tech, construction, agricultural, medical, and financial services fuel the” Texas Miracle,” helping the state weather the Great Recession better than most, while explaining its number one ranking in population and job growth since the dawn of the new millennium (Grieder 2013). Most recently, Texas’s hospitable economic climate has attracted Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, and is home to more than fifty (54) Fortune 500 companies-a number surpassing California and New York (Cohen and Cook 2023, 1740).
Hood III, M. V., & McKee, S. C. (2025). TEXAS: REPUBLICAN RESILIENCE. The New Politics of the Old South: An Introduction to Southern Politics, 159.
