In the Texas borderlands, ‘a new vision of America is being born’

*This piece speaks to me. I’m a borderland brat, and there’s so much the borderland experience can teach us in these days of searching for identity. If you’re from the borderland or not, you’ll find meaning in this piece. It’s a very good read: ” … the borderlands demonstrate how that quintessentially American quality—optimism—comes not from naïveté, but from struggle, and from knowing our own stories.”  VL

By Felipe Hinojosa, Houston Chronicle

As soon as I spot the rows of palm trees lining Highway 77, I know I’ve arrived home. That’s the point where I roll down my windows to feel the humid and hot winds of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. When I did just that on a recent trip from College Station, where I live now, my 9-year-old son asked loudly from the back seat, “Papi, why does it smell like steak?” My response was swift: “Because Friday night lights, mijo.”

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Friday nights in South Texas smell like meat. Photo: J.C. Reid Photo: J.C. Reid Friday nights in South Texas smell like meat.
As soon as I spot the rows of palm trees lining Highway 77, I know I’ve arrived home. That’s the point where I roll down my windows to feel the humid and hot winds of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. When I did just that on a recent trip from College Station, where I live now, my 9-year-old son asked loudly from the back seat, “Papi, why does it smell like steak?” My response was swift: “Because Friday night lights, mijo.”
Where I grew up, we barbecue on beautiful fall Friday nights. We watch football, we dance, and without question we get dressed to the nines in shiny boots, tight jeans, and colorful shirts. You don’t have to be from here to appreciate the sights and smells of Friday nights in South Texas.

But you do have to move beyond the anti-immigrant and anti-Mexican narratives that drive many outsiders to fear my homeland. The dominant narrative about the U.S.-Mexico borderlands goes something like this: It is drug-infested, violent, and possibly overrun by terrorists and “illegal” immigrants here to take American jobs. Such is the rhetoric of talking heads eager to cast the region as quintessentially un-American and in need of a massive wall to be “secured.”

Click HERE to read the full story.

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