In the latest example of the war on Texas heritage and history, the Houston Chronicle ran an opinion piece by Chris Tomlinson on Wednesday, April 10, criticizing Texas’ cowboys and the Alamo. According to Tomlinson, Texas needs to “rebrand” itself away from “racially charged myths.” Beware, Texans.
The Left likes to use shame and guilt to rewrite history and reinvent culture, and this is a good example. Tomlinson says, “Every time I visit the Alamo or see Houstonians don cowboy garb for “Go Texan Day,” I wonder how much longer the long-tall Texan shtick of blazing guns, big hats, high boots, and ethnic warfare will work as a state brand.”
It appears that Tomlinson views western clothing in racial terms. We should wonder if he judges someone who wears baggy pants with the underwear showing in the same manner?
Tomlinson says the “Alamo and the cowboy are losing their appeal as the proportion of Anglo Texans shrinks” because he thinks the “Hispanic majority will demand a revision of our more race-based myths.” That is a racist assumption.
Then Tomlinson questions if San Antonio should spend $450 million to make the Battle of the Alamo the centerpiece the city. He says that the “whites who died were defending slavery as much as fighting for liberty.” Again, he views history in leftist racial terms to fit his narrative, because some non-Anglos owned slaves and fought for independence from Mexico.
Furthermore, Tomlinson disrespects the Texans who died at the Alamo, and voices what many Texans have suspected about the “Reimagine the Alamo” plans to minimize the 1836 Battle of the Alamo. He questions why the Battle should be emphasized when it “ended with a massacre that wasn’t much of a battle.”
He also criticizes the Texas Rangers and says they conducted a “genocide against Native Americans or massacres of Hispanics.” He completely ignores that there were “massacres” and atrocities on all sides. Mexicans wiped out native tribes in northern Mexico, and what about the Mexicans’ massacre of Texans at Goliad in 1836?
Tomlinson goes on to say that “cowboys are such a small part of Texas history. “Dressing up as a slave overseer or a sharecropper would be a more honest statement about our economic history on the Houston Rodeo’s,” he says. Again, this it is an ignorant and ignorant comment because “Nortenos” (northern Mexicans) wear cowboy hats and boots.
Tomlinson concludes by calling Texas history “ridiculously inaccurate,” and says “the future of the state requires honesty” because of the “growing multicultural, multiethnic society and economy.” However, this is typical of liberal/leftist arrogance because, in his diverse, multicultural world, there is no room for cowboys or the heroes of Texas Independence.
While Confederate statues are being torn down across the country, leftists like Tomlinson want Texans to rethink the state’s identity by rewriting their history and remaking their culture and appearance. Perhaps Tomlinson will next want the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans to change their mascots because they are historically offensive to liberals and leftists.
All Texans should be proud of Texas and its place in the Union and history. If Texas is so evil, why are there so many Texans of Mexican and African descent in prominent political, business and academic positions? Why are so many non-Texans immigrating to Texas?
There is a cultural war being wage on Texas and America by leftists who oppose the principles of individual and economic freedom. Leftists claim they want diversity, but they want a dictatorship where they determine what is right and wrong in all aspects of life, including dress and appearance.
Liberals and leftists want to undermine the historical roots of freedom and liberty, and they are using guilt and shame as weapons to push their agenda. They want to eliminate cowboys and the heroes of the Alamo because what they represent doesn't fit into their politically-correct narrative.
Texas history has its share of unfortunate events, yet overall its people have prospered and continue to thrive because of the principles of personal and economic freedom and liberty. Texas is the prime target of the Democrats and the Left. If Texas falls, so does the U.S.
God bless and keep, Texas!