Texans Are Calling for the Lone Star State to Secede
By: Melissa Janda
Tags: Constitution, Politics, Secession, Texas

Texans Are Calling for the Lone Star State to Secede

Those within her borders shrug and say, “Meh, that’s nothing new,” but should we be worried this time around?

Photo by Kevin Payan on Unsplash

After the Supreme Court denied a Texas lawsuit for lack of standing, some Texas Republicans voiced their outrage over the dismissal of a “legitimate lawsuit” by hinting at secession.

Someone should’ve told them it was better to keep their mouth shut and seem a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

These individuals would benefit from attending the University of Texas Law Professor Steve Vladeck’s class. The professor, an expert on constitutional law, delivered a smackdown — ahem, explanation — on Twitter that may help enlighten them. It was certainly entertaining to read.

Steve Vladeck on Twitter: “Here’s my response: https://t.co/wwIBz1jYOs" / Twitter

Still, their comments spurred support for the secession movement on Twitter, with many voices of reason pointing out the lunacy of such a move. The Parler echo chamber had no dissenting views to enlighten the wandering herd, and while Parler users have picked up on the idea of secession, judging by the hashtag results, it’s nothing to write home about. Recent statistics show there are 10 million Parler accounts, of which 4 million are active. The Parleys with a secession hashtag didn’t total one thousand.

Talk of secession is nothing new. Fringe Texans have been calling for the state to secede for decades. It’s not unusual to see the occasional “SECEDE” bumper sticker around town. Most of us pass it off as bluster, just a little harmless Texas swaggering. After all, Texans love to brag about their state.

So, sit for a spell, and I’ll tell you a tale bigger than Texas.

When my family first rode into Texas in the seventies, I was apprehensive. I didn’t want to move to the Lone Star State. Texas was a vast desert in my young mind, dotted with cactus and rolling tumbleweeds where the blistering sun baked the ground to a crisp, killing all the vegetation. It was so dry that all the inhabitants were endlessly parched; even the trees were bribing the dogs. Thirsty cowboys whet their whistles on whiskey in the local saloons and spat tobacco into bronze spittoons while they kicked up their boots and gambled for loot. The myth that had sprung up about Texas made it seem like another country or a bygone era where the horse and buggy still reigned supreme.

Myths aside, no one can dispute that Texas is big. In addition to the desert, Texas has lakes and streams, piney woods, coastal plains, plateaus, rolling hill country, prairies, marshes, mountains, and canyons. Some claim Texas is the biggest state, which is true if you only consider the contiguous United States because Alaska is enormous. But Texans like to boast that Texas is larger than any European country. Texas also has the largest population of any other state, unless you count the Californians.

The Texas state capitol is the tallest in the United States unless you count Louisiana, Nebraska, Illinois, Kansas, and alright, Florida. Still, it’s taller than the nation’s capitol, and that’s saying something. It may not be the tallest, but it is the biggest in square footage, so put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Texas has the largest economy in the nation. Well, unless you count those damn Californians again. But at $1.9 trillion in GDP, it’s larger than Australia, South Korea, Canada, even potential world superpower Russia. Texas Governor Abbott bragged about it in 2018, saying, “That makes me more powerful than Putin!”

More farms occupy Texas than any other state allowing it to be the nation’s largest producer of sheep, wool, cotton, and cattle. It also leads the nation in producing oil, providing one-third of the US supply. In addition to being known as the Cotton King, the Austin area technology sector has generated another moniker: “Silicon Hills.” It’s a reference to Silicon Valley because Texas is second to those damn Californians again. But wait until Oracle and HP get established. How do you like them apples, California?

Texas is home to the San Jacinto Monument, the tallest freestanding monument (not structure, otherwise, Texas wouldn’t make the list) in the world, even taller than the Washington Monument. Texas can claim other global fame as well. The city of Austin is known as the live music capitol of the world and is home to the largest urban bat colony on the planet.

Texas is the only state to fly the flags of six nations over it. It seems everybody wanted a piece of Texas, starting with Spain, France, and then Mexico, whom Texas won its independence from and formed the Republic of Texas. That’s right. Texas was an independent nation for about a decade. When Texas joined the Union, it was the only state to enter by treaty rather than annexation because, well, we’re Texas, and we do things our way. Texas seceded from the Union to join the Confederate States of America during the Civil War and rejoined it after the war ended.

Six flags from six nations, but we can’t forget about the original inhabitants of the land. Several Native American tribes occupied Texas, including the Apache, Caddo, Cherokee, Comanche, Wichita, Tonkawa, Hasinai, and Kiowa. Texas got its name from one of those tribes. The word means friends and allies.

For almost ten years, the Lone Star State stood alone as the independent Republic of Texas, and some romanticize a return to those glory days. Based on all Texas can boast about, some think we should do it, too, but those talking of secession have not given the idea much thought. We can’t just shout “Git ‘er done!” toss out Old Glory, raise the Texas flag to prominence, and say, “Done did it. We are once again the Republic of Texas.”

Unilateral secession is unconstitutional. While Texas can boast about many things, any notion of secession is not only unwise but downright delusional. Say goodbye to U.S. military bases’ massive economic benefit on the Texas economy and the federal land owned by BLM, FWS, NPS, and USFS. Forget about those FEMA funds for natural disasters, and all the government services and funding represented by these acronyms: ATF, CDC, CIA, DEA, DOT, FAA, FBI, FCC, FDA, FTC, HHS, NASA, SBA, SSA, VA, and more.

Texas couldn’t make it alone, nor do most Texans want to. This secession movement doesn’t represent most of the state so don’t lump us all together. It’s a fringe group pipe dream. Texans love their state, but they love their country more.

We need our partners, and we need to live up to our name and be good friends and allies in return.

I think all this talk of secession boils down to one thing: Texas pride is about as wide as the state itself, and some Texans just like to talk big. Plus, Texas isn’t as red as it used to be, so at least half the state would object. It must be all those damn Californians moving in.