Texas Monthly recently published an article about the history of racial segregation in Austin, entitled What Nobody Says About Austin. Reporter Cecilia Balli recounts feelings of being outcasted for her Latina heritage and delves in Austin's cultural and political history to uncover an explanation for why Texas' most confidently liberal city may also be its most segregated.
I couldn't empathize with Balli on a racial level, but her commentary on the whacky and unpredictable social behaviors of Austinties is something I found humorously true. Though it's a place I feel very at home, I find it hard to ever feel like I really fit in socially. Walking down Guadualupe is as much a people-watching paradise as it is a retail one; the locals choice of attire, hair style, and demeanor never cease to amaze and perplex me.
This article is almost a spin-off on our last participation question about Texas exceptionalism. While it's impossible to deny Texas' sense of being "it's own country", I think the same goes for Austin as far as being it's own little state. No where else, from San Antonio to Llano to San Marcos, is the demographic atmosphere quite as particular as it is in Austin. No doubt does this atmosphere play off of a segregational tendancy, and Balli really opened my eyes to see it. Anyone who knows Austin decently well can admit that a divide exists between classes and, subsequently, races.
Austin does indeed exemplify a unique spirit, but just how accurately does its culture represent the entire state of Texas? Based on this article, I'd say not very well. Will Austin ever redefine its reputation for the sake of a desegregated city?
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