By David McClard Ka Leo Columnist Howdy and hello from Texas. As the second largest state in the union we are home to the fourth largest city, Houston, and the most populated university campus in North America. Harris County also leads the nation in number of executions. We are the Lone Star state, named so because we were an independent republic until 1845, and we are allowed to fly our state flag at the same height as the Union's. Many people in Texas are not enlightened, but it was not until I left the state that I could critically analyze the culture that I lived in for a decade.
Smoking cigarettes is popular there, and so are drugs, crime and racism.
The cities are swollen with illegal aliens and homeless, creating a great divide in race and class. People made fun of me. I could not hang with the Asian crew because of my genetic status, and the white people never failed to remind me that I was half. Others like me simply ignored their ancestry as best they could, but I began to accept that people found me different and unusual. Eventually I grew into my blood, but was still looked upon as different, even among my best friends.