When people in Texas and other states complain about bad laws, the response from progressives in New York City (I use NYC only as an example — there are people in many cities that believe their city is the most progressive in the world) is that they should just pack their bags and hop the first plane to Manhattan. Instead of working to change bad policy, they should abandon their homes, lives, and friends for more liberal pastures.
For most of us, that just isn’t in the cards. My family lives in Texas and Louisiana, and I can’t imagine being far away from them. I live in Dallas, where I get the perks of a major metropolitan area, like 3 a.m. Thai delivery and excellent theatre, while simultaneously getting cheap rent and high wages. As a bonus — I get to live in a pretty progressive area full of great restaurants, urban gardens, cool bars, and best of all — great tacos.
I don’t want to leave my home, and I don’t think I should have to. Texas is a pretty great place, most of the time. I’m not going to let a couple hundred right-wing men in Austin make me leave the state I was raised in.
Progressives deserting Texas, Florida, and others isn’t the way to solve the problems of these states. More organization, more time, and more money from national progressive groups will lead to real, lasting change.
Stop Telling Liberals and Women to Leave Red States (via brute-reason)
I seriously love this. I live in Texas, my whole family is from Louisiana, and this area is a huge part of my life. I love it so much that I want to work to see it change and get better, because those of us who live here and can’t or don’t want to leave deserve better.
YES. I may joke about wanting to pack up and leave out of frustration, but I grew up here, my family’s here, everything I have is here.
I am not what needs to change.
North Carolina is full of some fuckery right now, but that doesn’t mean I’m hightailing it on out of here. Be the change, etc.
Beyond not wanting to move, many of the groups affected by fucked-up legislation simply don't have the mobility to flee the groups trying to oppress and disenfranchise them. When people talk about how anti-women and anti-immigrant laws are going to lead to a split country, it strikes me as naïve to the point of disingenuous; most of the people affected by these laws do not have the ability to escape them by moving.
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