WACO — Standing in front of a massive state flag on Saturday, Claver Kamau-Imani outlined his utopian vision of a Nation of Texas that he believes is just on the horizon.
No taxes or Faucis, no speed zones or toll roads. No liberals, no gun laws. No windmills, no poor people. A separate currency, stock market and gold depository. “Complete control of our own immigration policy.” World-class college football, a farewell to regulators. And unthinkable, unimaginable wealth.
“We are going to be so rich,” he chanted. “We’re gonna be rich. We are gonna be rich. We. Are. Going. To Be. Rich! … As soon as we declare independence, we’re going to be wealthy. I personally believe that our personal GDP will double in five to seven years.”
“The independence of Texas is good for humanity as a whole,” he added to cheers.
Kamau-Imani, a Houston-based preacher, was among 100 or so people who spent the weekend at the Waco Convention Center for the first conference of the Texas Nationalist Movement, which since 2005 has advocated for the Lone Star State to break away from the United States — a “TEXIT,” as they call it.
Supporters of the movement said they are more energized and optimistic than ever about the prospect of an independent Texas, and pointed to appearances or support from current and former lawmakers — including state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, who spoke at the event — as evidence that their movement is far from fringe. The get-together also came as TEXIT supporters celebrated what they believe is crucial momentum: Days before the meeting, the Texas Nationalist Movement announced that it was more than halfway to the roughly 100,000 signatures needed to put a non-binding secession referendum on the Texas Republican primary ballot.
Yes please secede. Texas has enough electoral votes that if it split off, the modern republican party would never win again.
Texas is an economic base - let them try, so they can get fucked to dust like the last batch of racists, but they shouldn’t be allowed to succeed.
That would be stupid.
It’s an economic base now. If they secede the major companies there are not staying. They can grandstand all they want about Texas taxes but they will not want to lose our on being an American company and deal with trying to switch to bring a foreign company operating in the US.
Your comment makes me wonder something - in a magical hypothetical world where Texas leaves the US, in additon to companies leaving, large government installations like military bases or mission control centers would also have to close. Aren’t those things also drivers of economic activity? Houston would have a problem…
federal government and military packing up and leaving, companies doing the same. educated persons with the means, too. no more federal funding flowing in. the whole state would turn to shit in no time (well, i mean, even more than parts of it already are)
The military bases would be operational for the short-lived attempt to secede.
Texas would have to lean super heavy on oil. I dint know enough about their economy but you’re right there would be no more federal military money and you would probably see them drop in economic size to something like Spain. Not a 3rd world country by far but also no where near an economic power house.
It’s already a third world country
I’m looking forward to buying a Colorado Instruments calculator.
major companies there are not staying.
I wouldn’t assume that. This new State will strip away all sorts of federal labor & consumer protections, to the advantage of capitalists. New Texas will be a neocolony of the US, to the detriment of working class Texans.
It will definitely be bad for Texans but realistically a lot of big players leave. Haliburton, American Airlines, AT&T, HP, Dell, USAA are probably at the top of that list because of wanting to keep defense contracts, regulations on foreign technology companies importing into the US, or fear of being forced to sell utility infrastructure.
i bet they would simply change their official head quarters like many did to texas to take advantage of the low corporate taxes.
to the detriment of working class Texans
this is the MO for texas operating procedure and those detriment recipient texans wouldn’t have it any other way.
So are California and New York. I think we’ll manage. In fact whole Texas has the 8th highest GDP vs the world, California beats it at 5th. New York trails a bit at 10th.
If they were allowed to then the US Military would leave and the Mexican military would roll right in and claim it for themselves. I say let them. See ya, bye!
The Republican Party hasn’t needed voters to win for at least the last 30 years.
Like always, the equilibrium will just adjust around a different center. It would definitely be a big shift to the left without the largest red state.
Am agreeing with cowboy. Great state of Texas is independent and strong thinker, like Putin. Must show US their secession in order to live among the free peoples. Certainly they will become very wealthy. I am woman of color who works in factory and is liberal.
No Liberals? Do they plan to sell Austin?
I imagine they’re planning to purge Austin.
austin has people who call themselves liberals; not actual liberals.
Ok, but next january or february when the snow wipes out their electrical system, we won’t be sending any linemen from the United States to help patch things up.
I’d trade Texas for Puerto Rico any day.
Also… Oh, your colleges aren’t in the US? No, you don’t get to play with us. You can’t have it both ways, shitheads.
This would be such a shit show. Democratic states outside of Texas would be all for this, because the right would loose a ton of representatives.
Moreover, all the big centers of commerce in Texas would push back hard. Austin, Dallas, etc. The big cities that make the money are all blue.
Texas currently has 38 seats, Republicans outnumber Democrats 25-13. If Texas had already seceded than Hakeem Jeffries would be the Speaker right now.
Ok. Bye.
So anyway …
46% of the voting population of Texas voted for Biden in 2020.
The new, better, slimmer America will welcome all refugees of fascism.
Wonder how long it would survive without US support? Probably less than a year. Mexico could reclaim their land after that.
Texas state government received $39.5 billion in grants from the Federal government. I’m sure that would put a dent in their infrastructure maintenance for the state. Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/2017/november/federal-funding.php
Please do! Without their 40 electoral votes we won’t see a Republican in the White House for generations.
There is only one proper response to this:
https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-population-majority-latino-census-bureau-update/
Texas has been majority white since at least the mid 1800s, but Hispanics have been expected to overtake the majority for some time. Now, new data shows that happened at some time in 2022.
The U.S. Census Bureau updated its official population estimates, and the numbers confirm Latinos have officially made up the largest share of the state’s population since at least last July.
Lloyd Potter, state demographer of Texas and director of the Texas Demographic Center, said Hispanic Texans made up 40.2% of the state’s population last summer, edging out non-Hispanic white Texans, who made up 39.8%.
“When we look at demographic and population change, there’s what we refer to as components of population change,” Potter said. “The three major components are births, deaths and net migration. So when we look at and when we compare population change between the non-Hispanic white population and the Hispanic population, the dynamics of those elements are different.”
For example, Hispanics tend to have higher birth rates than the non-Hispanic white population, Potter said.
as a san franciscan-california latino who had to live in texas for 5 years, texan latinos are so conservative that they make florida cubano expats looks like communist loving bleeding heart liberals; especially the evangelicals; and nothing will change texas because of that.
not that it matters, i fully expected texas to become a minority controlled apartheid state in all but name eventually and now i know i was right thanks to this article.
“build a wall, let texas pay for it.”
Good… and also “bye”.
Bye Felicia!
46% of the voting population of Texas voted for Biden in 2020.
A blatant lie. In 2020, 66% of the voting population actually voted - and this was a record high! Of those, 46.48% voted for Biden/Harris. So that’s just under 1/3rd, or 30.68% of the voting population of Texas.
Now, do I feel for these folks? Yes. Is it terrible that they’re being disenfranchised by their state and local governments at every turn? Also yes. Is this going to make me feel at all bad if the state whose main claim to fame is keeping slavery going an extra 2 years splits off, only to get gobbled up by Mexico?
Not in the slightest.
What part of the phrase “voting population” was confusing to you?
Is a person a member of the “voting population” if they didn’t vote? No. BY VIRTUE OF NOT VOTING.
I didn’t say “eligible voters”.
These fools are severely underestimating how much value comes with being part of the US. There’s are just too many advantages being in a strong economic union like the United States. Its cities especially would have their population leaving in droves. Of course, none of these prosperity gospel preachers are going to have Texas go anywhere. The South already tried that once, and it didn’t turn out so well for them did it?
Who cares?
Stop trying to dissuade them and let them hang themselves.
Unfortunately, I have friends and family who are anchored to these loons.
But what’s wrong with windmills??
Insufficiently destructive of the environment.
