{"id":46222,"date":"2025-08-25T16:29:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T16:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/?p=46222"},"modified":"2025-08-26T19:04:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T19:04:31","slug":"debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/","title":{"rendered":"DEBUNKED: 4 Myths Keeping Texas Divided\u2014and One Truth to Inspire You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texans argue hard because we care hard. But a lot of what fuels our fights isn\u2019t truth. It\u2019s corrosive myths that turn neighbors into villains. Here are four of the loudest\u2014plus one shared truth hiding beneath the noise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1) \u201cCities Are Full of Woke Liberals\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

Maps may look like blue splotches ringed by red counties. But zoom in and you\u2019ll find city-dwellers are far more nuanced. Take Austin. Despite being widely known as a drum circle in city form, they\u2019ve passed some pretty right-coded legislation in recent years. In 2024, the all-blue city council reneged on 2020\u2019s \u201cdefund the police\u201d movement and voted to increase base pay for police officers by roughly 28% over the next five years. In 2021, voters reinstated a public camping ban, preventing homeless people from pitching their tents on sidewalks or in parks. And in the big blue cities of Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, a growing Latin population is increasingly voting Republican. Basically, Texas\u2019s cities aren’t blue monoliths. They\u2019re a red and blue patchwork.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2) \u201cTransplants Are Ruining Texas\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

When your commute gets longer and your rent gets higher, it\u2019s easy to blame the U-Haul with California plates. But business relocations have fueled big gains in jobs and payrolls. They grow the tax base that funds schools, roads, and first responders. And in fact, most job growth comes from startups and Texas firms expanding, not being replaced.<\/span><\/p>\n

Transplants aren\u2019t \u201cflipping Texas blue\u201d either. According to an <\/span>analysis<\/span><\/a> by the Houston Chronicle, Californians moving to Texas were, in many counties, more Republican than Democratic. The biggest political shifts are driven more by younger native Texans than by out-of-state arrivals.<\/span><\/p>\n

The real friction most people feel comes from housing supply: we didn\u2019t build enough, in the right places, fast enough. So you get growth <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> a pinch. Booming payrolls alongside pricier homes and longer waitlists. But the fix isn\u2019t telling people not to come. It\u2019s finding a way to green-light more homes.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3) \u201cTexas Can Secede Anytime It Wants\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

Texas can\u2019t just vote itself out of the United States. The Supreme Court said so in Texas v. White (1869), calling the U.S. an \u201cindestructible Union,\u201d which means no state can unilaterally secede. If Texans ever wanted to try, it wouldn\u2019t be a Texas-only ballot measure. It would take consent and action beyond Texas (think Congress, other states, and likely a constitutional amendment). Any attempts to secede otherwise would be met with US military intervention.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the civics, the story we tell ourselves about secession matters. It frames fellow Americans as enemies to escape, not partners to argue with and, ideally, work alongside. It also turns real political frustration into fantasy\u2014energy that could go toward practical solutions gets spent on daydreams about quitting the union.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4) \u201cRural Texans Don\u2019t Care About The Environment\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

If you picture wind turbines and solar fields, you\u2019re already looking mostly at rural counties. Texas <\/span>leads the nation<\/span><\/a> in wind generation and has added massive amounts of solar, much of it on ranchland and farm acreage. That boom isn\u2019t happening in spite of rural Texans. It depends on them.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>Rural farmers and ranchers in Texas care about the environment because it\u2019s their paycheck. If they trash the land, their grass dies, their cattle lose weight, their wells run dry, and their kids can\u2019t inherit a workable operation. That\u2019s why you\u2019ll see them rotating herds so pastures recover, fencing off creek banks, planting native grasses, fixing erosion washouts, managing brush and burns, and keeping pesticides and runoff out of waterways.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One Truth? \u201cNo One Loves Texas More Than Texans\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

Texans are famously proud of their state, no matter where they come from or who they vote for. That pride isn\u2019t limited by zip code, language, background, or political affiliation. It\u2019s shared by immigrants chasing opportunity, ranchers preserving the land, teachers in small towns, and tech workers in cities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This shared love of Texas\u2014its culture, its land, its people\u2014is stronger than any myth trying to divide us. And it\u2019s exactly the kind of common ground we can build on. Because at the end of the day, we all want to make Texas better\u2014for our kids, our neighbors, and our future. It\u2019s not about erasing our differences. It\u2019s about remembering what connects us underneath them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Alex Buscemi (abuscemi@buildersmovement.org<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texans argue hard because we care hard. But a lot of what fuels our fights isn\u2019t truth. It\u2019s corrosive myths that turn neighbors into villains. Here are four of the loudest\u2014plus one shared truth hiding beneath the noise.\u00a0   1) \u201cCities Are Full of Woke Liberals\u201d Maps may look like blue splotches ringed by red…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":46223,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"collection_feed":[125],"type_feed":[77],"class_list":["post-46222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDEBUNKED: 4 Myths Keeping Texas Divided\u2014and One Truth to Inspire You - Builders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here are four of the loudest myths that keep Texas divided\u2014plus one shared truth hiding beneath the noise.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DEBUNKED: 4 Myths Keeping Texas Divided\u2014and One Truth to Inspire You - Builders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here are four of the loudest myths that keep Texas divided\u2014plus one shared truth hiding beneath the noise.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Builders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-25T16:29:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-26T19:04:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/BuildersTX_HeroImage_Newsletter.gif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"753\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"abuscemi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#\/schema\/person\/70e349194917307728e72f5f246e3d95\"},\"headline\":\"DEBUNKED: 4 Myths Keeping Texas Divided\u2014and One Truth to Inspire You\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-25T16:29:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-26T19:04:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/\"},\"wordCount\":754,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/BuildersTX_HeroImage_Newsletter.gif\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/\",\"name\":\"DEBUNKED: 4 Myths Keeping Texas Divided\u2014and One Truth to Inspire You - Builders\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/BuildersTX_HeroImage_Newsletter.gif\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-25T16:29:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-26T19:04:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#\/schema\/person\/70e349194917307728e72f5f246e3d95\"},\"description\":\"Here are four of the loudest myths that keep Texas divided\u2014plus one shared truth hiding beneath the noise.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/BuildersTX_HeroImage_Newsletter.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/BuildersTX_HeroImage_Newsletter.gif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":753},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"DEBUNKED: 4 Myths Keeping Texas Divided\u2014and One Truth to Inspire You\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/\",\"name\":\"Builders\",\"description\":\"Rise Above Us vs Them. Be a Builder\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"DEBUNKED: 4 Myths Keeping Texas Divided\u2014and One Truth to Inspire You - Builders","description":"Here are four of the loudest myths that keep Texas divided\u2014plus one shared truth hiding beneath the noise.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"DEBUNKED: 4 Myths Keeping Texas Divided\u2014and One Truth to Inspire You - Builders","og_description":"Here are four of the loudest myths that keep Texas divided\u2014plus one shared truth hiding beneath the noise.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/","og_site_name":"Builders","article_published_time":"2025-08-25T16:29:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-26T19:04:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":753,"url":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/BuildersTX_HeroImage_Newsletter.gif","type":"image\/gif"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/"},"author":{"name":"abuscemi","@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#\/schema\/person\/70e349194917307728e72f5f246e3d95"},"headline":"DEBUNKED: 4 Myths Keeping Texas Divided\u2014and One Truth to Inspire You","datePublished":"2025-08-25T16:29:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-26T19:04:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/"},"wordCount":754,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/BuildersTX_HeroImage_Newsletter.gif","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/","url":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/","name":"DEBUNKED: 4 Myths Keeping Texas Divided\u2014and One Truth to Inspire You - Builders","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/BuildersTX_HeroImage_Newsletter.gif","datePublished":"2025-08-25T16:29:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-26T19:04:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#\/schema\/person\/70e349194917307728e72f5f246e3d95"},"description":"Here are four of the loudest myths that keep Texas divided\u2014plus one shared truth hiding beneath the noise.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/BuildersTX_HeroImage_Newsletter.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/BuildersTX_HeroImage_Newsletter.gif","width":1200,"height":753},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/08\/25\/debunked-4-myths-keeping-texas-divided\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"DEBUNKED: 4 Myths Keeping Texas Divided\u2014and One Truth to Inspire You"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/","name":"Builders","description":"Rise Above Us vs Them. Be a Builder","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46222"},{"taxonomy":"collection_feed","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection_feed?post=46222"},{"taxonomy":"type_feed","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type_feed?post=46222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}