Economic opportunities and cultural boom
Austin is one of America's fastest-growing cities, both economically and culturally. Technology jobs are constantly evolving, tourism is at an all-time high and the population of big cities is growing. For some years now, Texas cities like Austin and Houston have been attracting Americans from other parts of the country, from big cities like San Francisco and New York, thanks to major new economic opportunities, particularly in the tech industry. For example, Elon Musk has moved Tesla's headquarters to Austin, and Houston's medical center has become one of the best research and medical care centers in the world, even treating the Emir of Kuwait. Waves of tourists from South and Central America come just for the shopping, attracted by malls like the Galleria in Houston. These cities are experiencing growing cultural diversification on an international scale.
Culinary tourism
A recent study revealed that Houston, among three other Texas cities, was one of the most diverse in the country. With that comes culinary richness, especially for a city where dining out is one of the residents' major pastimes. In Houston, there are several neighborhoods with a concentration of specific cuisines: Indian cuisine in the Mahatma Gandhi district, Chinese in Chinatown, Korean in Spring Branch, Vietnamese restaurants in Midtown and Venezuelan in Katy. This rich culinary concentration attracts many tourists every year, with more and more guided tours focusing on local cuisine.
The right to bear arms
As of 2021, Texas residents 21 years of age or older have the right to carry a weapon, such as a pistol, in public places without a permit, openly or discreetly. Texas law doesn't specifically place restrictions on who can carry a long gun like a rifle or shotgun. But Texas has suffered a dozen shootings since 2015, including the recent 2022 Uvalde shooting at an elementary school. In 2019, there was a shooting in El Paso at a Walmart that led to gun regulations by the city government, later overturned and neutralized by the state. This kind of conflict between state and local policy is a recurring phenomenon.
LGBTQ+
The year 2023 is off to a bad start for the LGBTQ+ community, with laws put in place across the country directly attacking these communities. Texas breaks all records for anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Texas Governor Greg Abbott faced national outrage after asking the state's child protective services to investigate all parents providing gender-affirming care to their children, accusing them of "abuse". The most welcoming places for LGBTQ+ communities tend to be in larger cities, such as Austin and Houston, as well as more rural towns like Marfa, as since the economic growth and cultural boom in big Texas cities, they are increasingly integrating the LGBTQ+ community into the mainstream. Once again, the difference between cities and state policies is great.
Anti-abortion laws
The abolition of the federal Roe v. Wade law protecting abortion made international news. Shifted from a federal to a state matter, abortion is now illegal in half the country's states, including Texas. Some far-right politicians go even further, wanting to abolish access to contraception. No wonder that Margaret Atwood's The Scarlet Handmaid, exposing an American dystopian future, is classified as a banned book in Texas schools. The imaginary society created by Atwood is governed by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as the property of the state, exploring themes of subjugated women in a patriarchal society, the loss of female agency and individuality, and the suppression of women's reproductive rights. Perhaps a not-so-distant future after all.
The death penalty
The international press often points the finger at Texas when it comes to the death penalty, probably because it's hard to believe that in a developed country it's still possible to impose this kind of punishment. In fact, the cowboy state is known for breaking records in this area, as Texas has had the highest number of executions since the death penalty was reinstated in the USA by the Supreme Court in 1976. On average, inmates spend 10 years on death row before being killed. These sordid sentences are something of a tradition, with hanging taking precedence between 1819 and 1923, followed by the electric chair. In 1977, Texas adopted lethal injection. Three products are injected into the condemned man's veins. The first puts him to sleep, the second paralyzes him, and the third causes cardiac arrest. There have been numerous protests against this type of homicide throughout history, as in 1972 when the Supreme Court described the death penalty as "cruel and inhuman". Equally outrageous is the fact that a large majority of deathrow inmates are African-Americans, who account for up to 41% of the imprisoned population.
