Just to put this comment into perspective: I'm a native Dallasite but have lived in Austin since I was 13, in addition to NYC & London. I'm still up there at least once a month, however.
While I'm as alarmed by the rise of megachurches as any other given American progressive, I'd nonetheless argue that looking at Dallas solely through the perspective of its churches & suburbs is myopic, despite largely agreeing with Hamilton's points. One aspect of Dallas life you might not know absent decades of experience: the extent to which white flight occurred there, but also how much it's since been *reversed*.
I know this is true in NYC as well, but the default option for young couples is increasingly *not* a house in the 'burbs with 2.5 kids. It's even gotten its own batch of realtor-invented area names: if SoHo begat NoHo, Dallas's Preston Hollow area – its fanciest within the city limits – begat "Midway Hollow." (My own childhood neighborhood, one that's apparently now a huge draw for mid-century architecture enthusiasts.)
Further still, what *really* scares the living shit out of my state's unfortunate bigots – resulting in borderline-farce notions about "Sharia law" and the like – is reality: Texas in 2025 is only 40% white. Each of its major cities, including Dallas, is heavily Democratic, and yet people still routinely think Austin's the "lone blueberry in the bowl of tomato soup," to paraphrase Rick "Oops" Perry. The suburbs are overwhelmingly white, but Dallas proper is barely 25% white.
When my family left Dallas, Plano was still almost entirely white. Today it's not even *majority* white, and a quarter of its population is Asian.
Prestonwood Baptist Church may be the future MAGA wants for America, but that doesn't mean the inverse is necessarily true – even in Dallas. In the reality-based world, white Texans are a rapidly dwindling minority, and Republicans have successfully pissed off our largest ethnic group by far: Hispanics. Heckuva job!
Fellow Dallas-to-Austin transplant here: thank you so much for articulating this. I understand the point of the piece was to dissect a particular worldview (which may or may not be ascendant--agree to disagree, I guess?), but this analysis is spot-on. I woudl only add that sprawl is just sprawl, and it happens in most major cities; I think it's a mistake to ascribe religious fundamentalism as a motivating factor. I haven't seen a lot of people doing this for LA/NYC, for example. But Dallas and its inner suburbs are absolutely shifting politically and demographically, and I am hopeful that real change is going to be possible sooner rather than later.
Might be wishful thinking on my part, but I think this is less 'ascendant' than a very striking display of 'circling the wagons' a kind of 'end game' coalescing...A badger's last stand so to speak. If these kinds of organizations stay around, they will turn into something entirely different. This is a money making scheme and once another model becomes more profitable, it will move in that direction
I'm from the same area as you, I left when I was 18. I'm in Austin now. I think you're underselling how politically dominant these forces are, how much money and power these forces have, and overselling how much local Republicans have pissed off Latinos.
On a national level people are getting overall sick of Trump, sure, but in Texas there is a successful integration of sections of the Latino population into what you could broadly describe as "white Republican" culture. I don't think you can look at demographics and see a percentage as "hispanic" and draw any definite conclusions about the future political character of that population.
It's going to change, maybe it'll start to look a little different, but the overall trajectory of infinite soulless suburbs where kids have stunted childhoods and a political culture that will never interrogate itself and is there to keep the same rich people in power by blaming the general malaise and bad vibes on new and old boogeymen, that doesn't seem to be changing.
It doesn't feel like a fertile environment for sustained and progressive political developments, and to echo the angsty kid I used to be (whatever passes for rebellious in Plano, mainly being gay and listening to Radiohead) - most of the locals *never* escape the gravitational pull of that black hole suburban lifestyle.
It should all be razed. I don't believe that in a practical sense, it won't happen, not anytime soon. But I believe it spiritually. There's nothing much worthwhile to salvage from the places Hamilton is describing.
Just to clarify, I was gauging Trump's decline in popularity among Texas Hispanics via actual poll results showing exactly that. But I know all too well that getting out the Hispanic vote has proven to be the Democrats' white whale, at least in Texas.
But I'm not quite as nihilist about Texas needing to be "razed," so agree to disagree on that one. Hispanic voter turnout is routinely 20 points or more below white voters, in part because they think they've been forgotten. And they have a point: we've still only had a solitary "wise Latina" on the Supreme Court along with three Black justices – but nearly twice as many Americans today are Hispanic than Black.
And again, Bernie polls exceptionally well in South Texas. Same with AOC: she even flew down to help some candidates stump, in the last two electoral cycles. You see a wasteland, but I see a ripe opportunity for true change. They just need the right candidate, and it seems kinda obvious that it'd be wise to have a Hispanic on the ticket in 2028.
Specifically referring to the suburbs needing to be razed, but that's universal, not just to Texas. American suburbs are hostile environments that create a unique alienating psychosis; a life of hour+ commutes, a soulless culture of chain businesses being the only third spaces, and sidewalks to nowhere. I think a big part of the American "loneliness epidemic" goes back further than smartphones and also stems from a physical environment that's devastating to local community building.
We'll see on how "Blexas" goes. I've been hearing "the polling is going our direction this time!" my entire life.
Agreed, we have these kinds of suburbs in California too, and they are like the worst of all worlds: too far from nature to give people any kind of perspective, and too far from the city to actually force people to be around each other. Additionally there's just the form of them: in Bowling Alone, Putnam lists the decrease in "boundedness" of our cities as a factor in the decrease in social capital and increase in loneliness. These cookie-cutter cities, which just kind of fade off into the distance, don't give people a sense of belonging to any specific place; you're just kind of a drop in the ocean. Overall, when the only outside influences that *are* reaching you are the ones coming through a screen, the neuroticism that we see everywhere doesn't seem so surprising.
When I was there I liked Deep Ellum. Did seem like a pretty small part of a big city though. That area by SMU is nice too, just like the part of Houston near Rice is nice.
What's so frustrating/ironic about this sort of thing is none of the candidates or the constituents to whom they're speaking have met a Muslim (most likely.) If they did, they find that the fundamentalists largely agree with them re: their other bigotries vis a vis LGBTQetc folks, abortion, women's rights, "communism", etc.
“Sharia Law” is simply an acceptable term (for them) used as cover for outright racism. North Texas has one of the fastest growing minority populations in the county and is predominantly south Asian. You can claim you’re against “Sharia Law” and no one bats an eye, but what they really mean is “don’t worry, we know that almost an entire subdivision was purchased by Indians, and they want to build a temple, and maybe open a Hindu school (to take advantage of all the school choice that was only supposed to go to Christians, right?), and why does everyone dress funny in the neighborhood!?!?” That’s all it’s about.
The sprawl is the sprawl. It’s the New Jersey to NYC of Dallas, except global companies are setting up shop in North Texas because it’s cheap and they can get away with doing anything they want.
"The power of this culture is demonstrated by its growth. ... It tells us that we can take everything, use everything, and those that we took it from never deserved it in the first place. If they did, they would be us." A more cogent summation of The American Dream as it is currently held in the "conservative" mind will not be found. Excellent work, Mr. Nolan.
Look, too, to the area between San Antonio and Austin (where I grew up).
New Braunfels, which used to be a sleepy little town, was on that “fastest growing cities” list not too long ago, and is now a suburb of San Antonio. Its water supply is almost tapped out (as is most of that area) due to overdevelopment), and there is so little oversight of building permits that there is no end in sight.
I visit several times a year, and I don’t think there’s ever been a time in the past 5-10 years when there hasn’t been a major highway construction expansion going on in Austin or San Antonio.
Meanwhile, people who have lived in the area for generations blame it all on people who moved to town from California with their “California politics” and think if they just go away they will take their traffic with them and housing prices + the water supply and utility prices will just go back to “normal.” (I still have a subscription to the local newspaper, so I can see what the locals say.)
While I'm certainly not going to defend encroaching suburbanization – let alone a true icon like New Braunfels likely ending up yet another bland Anywhereville – one area where Texas is at least somewhat reasonable – FOR NOW, and this could readily change – is water.
Bit of a long story, but I studied environmental law in law school and later developed a specialty in water law. As such, I was admittedly stunned to find out Texas has some of the *better* water-conservation practices in the American West & Southwest. California's Central Valley – the disastrously placed area that's the nation's proverbial bread basket – has largely uncontrolled illegal aquifer water use for irrigation during nearly any period of heavy drought. In Texas, however, that's a categorical no-go.
Lest anyone think Texas is somehow "leftist," I'll interject here that it preserves its water supplies mainly because they're absolutely essential ... for oil-and-gas drilling. (Oh, and human use.)
I do, however, know what the San Antonio area is doing to better conserve water. Until less than a decade ago, the entire city was reliant upon water drawn from the Edwards Aquifer, which lies mostly north of the area (including the southern part of Austin). Austin's always had the Highland Lakes for water; San Antonio would be *totally* fucked without the aquifer.
As such, they finally built a ginormous reservoir specifically for the San Antonio vicinity, I think including New Braunfels. I realize water is only going to become a more precious resource over time, but the first parts of the US to get hit with water woes are likely in the Coachella Valley / Vegas / Phoenix triangle.
Finally, not everyone thinks the water supply will "go back to normal." After the last decade's drought, Austin became the first large city in America to mandate one-day-a-week lawn watering, and it has the second most progressive water pricing in America. (Btw that's a great way to dissuade heavy water users, e.g. people with massive yards: the first 3,000 monthly gallons are reasonably priced, but it goes up in tiers the more you use. Makes perfect sense, but when Austin first introduced it, parts of California still had *unmetered* water. (Either Sacramento or Fresno IIRC, but it's in the central / arid part of the state and was quite the surprise.)
Texas is more progressive in its laws and its attitudes than many would think from the playacting that goes on on Fox News. Most of that playacting is by people who are not actually Texas natives, like Dan Patrick, Ken Paxton, Ted Cruz and Chip Roy. Before those guys got a hold of them, Texas had some of the most, if not the most strict gun regulations in the nation. Why? Because that Wild, Wild West thing isn't actually that much fun to live through.
It’s interesting that you say that, because Canyon Lake in particular has been at its lowest levels in decades. Many times when I’ve visited I’ve been unable to enjoy kayaking in the lake (or visit other spring-fed areas).
Yep. I'm also wondering if even though they now have a reservoir whether San Antonio is still pumping out the aquifer. San Marcos fought San Antonio really hard in the 60's and 70's. They were going to pump the reservoir dry without compunction.
Nothing says sense of place like a massive two-car garage door dominating the vernacular architecture, as you meander on a walk on the sidewalks of America, thinking about which next shopping quest is more urgent; the processed food takeout decision, or the online Amazon order. The corporate coup is complete, and the rot is extensive underneath the abundance illusion permeating our ‘little boxes on a hillside’.
I'll never forget the urban studies professor I had in college who said that the presence of front-facing garages in more modern homes made a real statement about whose presence in said homes was prioritized.
“As an out-of-towner not deeply versed in all of the sociopolitical challenges in Texas, I was surprised to learn the extent to which the state is threatened by Sharia law.” Me, too.
Funny. Christian Nationalism has always struck me as intent on imposing rules on others in the manner of the strictest of Sharia law. I wonder if they know how it is defined: a guide for Muslims “on how to live their lives according to divine principles.”
Wide variations on how to interpret this. Just like Christian denominations…
I rue the day when Christian and Islamic extremists discover they have much more in common with each other than they do with their respective countries...That's not going to be a good day. I get the feeling that if Sharia Law WAS somehow implemented, RW Christians will discover very quickly how much they like it
I was astonished to see something that looked like my Houston area parental home appear in an essay about the hideous North Dallas suburbs. It’s been ages since I’ve viewed that part of the country firsthand but I’m not surprised to see a similar style of architecture. It’s just the way things are.
Made me think your viewpoint is, to quote David Blight, “too operatic.” People need houses and they don’t necessarily buy into a particular ideology simply by living in a dwelling of a certain style.
While a lot of folks are saying that this isn't the whole of Texas, I understand your point that this experience of suburbia is uniquely American. This feeling of expansion for its own sake, of Christian Nationalism expressed through conservative and xenophobic politics, the nuclear family and all of its implications live in the Central Valley of California, too.
We exited the milky white hellscape of DFW about two years ago, after 50 years there. Everything you see has been the tres plus ultra goal of the Christo-fascists building on the foundational stones of chattel slavery, cotton, and exploitationl of immigrants. The hypocrisy burns your eyes.
Grew up in University Park down the street from SMU attending a mega (Bible) church and this bit of journalistic ethnography is SPOT ON, though it’s striking to me how even more stridently Dallas evangelical leaders are participating in the culture wars compared to when I grew up there in the 80s/90s. (this of course has been a nation-wide trend)
Great analysis. I lived in Texas for my first 37 years in Houston, Waco, and Austin. The comments that almost all of Texas’s gargantuan cities are Democratic is true. Massive bulldozing for tangled or in some cases right-angled highways leading to hellish grids of garage doors and flimsy family shit boxes proceeds nonetheless.
Unaccountable, rapacious capitalism is a bipartisan steamroller, flattening, mocking all who stand in the path.
Yes, Dallas and its rings form an especially obvious species of perdition coming to burn us all.
You fit so much more into this one essay. Thank you!
Just to put this comment into perspective: I'm a native Dallasite but have lived in Austin since I was 13, in addition to NYC & London. I'm still up there at least once a month, however.
While I'm as alarmed by the rise of megachurches as any other given American progressive, I'd nonetheless argue that looking at Dallas solely through the perspective of its churches & suburbs is myopic, despite largely agreeing with Hamilton's points. One aspect of Dallas life you might not know absent decades of experience: the extent to which white flight occurred there, but also how much it's since been *reversed*.
I know this is true in NYC as well, but the default option for young couples is increasingly *not* a house in the 'burbs with 2.5 kids. It's even gotten its own batch of realtor-invented area names: if SoHo begat NoHo, Dallas's Preston Hollow area – its fanciest within the city limits – begat "Midway Hollow." (My own childhood neighborhood, one that's apparently now a huge draw for mid-century architecture enthusiasts.)
Further still, what *really* scares the living shit out of my state's unfortunate bigots – resulting in borderline-farce notions about "Sharia law" and the like – is reality: Texas in 2025 is only 40% white. Each of its major cities, including Dallas, is heavily Democratic, and yet people still routinely think Austin's the "lone blueberry in the bowl of tomato soup," to paraphrase Rick "Oops" Perry. The suburbs are overwhelmingly white, but Dallas proper is barely 25% white.
When my family left Dallas, Plano was still almost entirely white. Today it's not even *majority* white, and a quarter of its population is Asian.
Prestonwood Baptist Church may be the future MAGA wants for America, but that doesn't mean the inverse is necessarily true – even in Dallas. In the reality-based world, white Texans are a rapidly dwindling minority, and Republicans have successfully pissed off our largest ethnic group by far: Hispanics. Heckuva job!
Fellow Dallas-to-Austin transplant here: thank you so much for articulating this. I understand the point of the piece was to dissect a particular worldview (which may or may not be ascendant--agree to disagree, I guess?), but this analysis is spot-on. I woudl only add that sprawl is just sprawl, and it happens in most major cities; I think it's a mistake to ascribe religious fundamentalism as a motivating factor. I haven't seen a lot of people doing this for LA/NYC, for example. But Dallas and its inner suburbs are absolutely shifting politically and demographically, and I am hopeful that real change is going to be possible sooner rather than later.
Might be wishful thinking on my part, but I think this is less 'ascendant' than a very striking display of 'circling the wagons' a kind of 'end game' coalescing...A badger's last stand so to speak. If these kinds of organizations stay around, they will turn into something entirely different. This is a money making scheme and once another model becomes more profitable, it will move in that direction
Great point re: sprawl. I grew up in the exurbs of Atlanta, and yeah.
I'm from the same area as you, I left when I was 18. I'm in Austin now. I think you're underselling how politically dominant these forces are, how much money and power these forces have, and overselling how much local Republicans have pissed off Latinos.
On a national level people are getting overall sick of Trump, sure, but in Texas there is a successful integration of sections of the Latino population into what you could broadly describe as "white Republican" culture. I don't think you can look at demographics and see a percentage as "hispanic" and draw any definite conclusions about the future political character of that population.
It's going to change, maybe it'll start to look a little different, but the overall trajectory of infinite soulless suburbs where kids have stunted childhoods and a political culture that will never interrogate itself and is there to keep the same rich people in power by blaming the general malaise and bad vibes on new and old boogeymen, that doesn't seem to be changing.
It doesn't feel like a fertile environment for sustained and progressive political developments, and to echo the angsty kid I used to be (whatever passes for rebellious in Plano, mainly being gay and listening to Radiohead) - most of the locals *never* escape the gravitational pull of that black hole suburban lifestyle.
It should all be razed. I don't believe that in a practical sense, it won't happen, not anytime soon. But I believe it spiritually. There's nothing much worthwhile to salvage from the places Hamilton is describing.
Just to clarify, I was gauging Trump's decline in popularity among Texas Hispanics via actual poll results showing exactly that. But I know all too well that getting out the Hispanic vote has proven to be the Democrats' white whale, at least in Texas.
But I'm not quite as nihilist about Texas needing to be "razed," so agree to disagree on that one. Hispanic voter turnout is routinely 20 points or more below white voters, in part because they think they've been forgotten. And they have a point: we've still only had a solitary "wise Latina" on the Supreme Court along with three Black justices – but nearly twice as many Americans today are Hispanic than Black.
And again, Bernie polls exceptionally well in South Texas. Same with AOC: she even flew down to help some candidates stump, in the last two electoral cycles. You see a wasteland, but I see a ripe opportunity for true change. They just need the right candidate, and it seems kinda obvious that it'd be wise to have a Hispanic on the ticket in 2028.
Specifically referring to the suburbs needing to be razed, but that's universal, not just to Texas. American suburbs are hostile environments that create a unique alienating psychosis; a life of hour+ commutes, a soulless culture of chain businesses being the only third spaces, and sidewalks to nowhere. I think a big part of the American "loneliness epidemic" goes back further than smartphones and also stems from a physical environment that's devastating to local community building.
We'll see on how "Blexas" goes. I've been hearing "the polling is going our direction this time!" my entire life.
Agreed, we have these kinds of suburbs in California too, and they are like the worst of all worlds: too far from nature to give people any kind of perspective, and too far from the city to actually force people to be around each other. Additionally there's just the form of them: in Bowling Alone, Putnam lists the decrease in "boundedness" of our cities as a factor in the decrease in social capital and increase in loneliness. These cookie-cutter cities, which just kind of fade off into the distance, don't give people a sense of belonging to any specific place; you're just kind of a drop in the ocean. Overall, when the only outside influences that *are* reaching you are the ones coming through a screen, the neuroticism that we see everywhere doesn't seem so surprising.
When I was there I liked Deep Ellum. Did seem like a pretty small part of a big city though. That area by SMU is nice too, just like the part of Houston near Rice is nice.
Amazing writing!
The bigotry against Muslims among these candidates is horrifying. A sad state of affairs.
What's so frustrating/ironic about this sort of thing is none of the candidates or the constituents to whom they're speaking have met a Muslim (most likely.) If they did, they find that the fundamentalists largely agree with them re: their other bigotries vis a vis LGBTQetc folks, abortion, women's rights, "communism", etc.
Dang! These Texas sized Part I and Part II essays together present an absolute masterclass in American exceptionalism.
Why do I suspect the wrong people are reading these all the way through?
“Sharia Law” is simply an acceptable term (for them) used as cover for outright racism. North Texas has one of the fastest growing minority populations in the county and is predominantly south Asian. You can claim you’re against “Sharia Law” and no one bats an eye, but what they really mean is “don’t worry, we know that almost an entire subdivision was purchased by Indians, and they want to build a temple, and maybe open a Hindu school (to take advantage of all the school choice that was only supposed to go to Christians, right?), and why does everyone dress funny in the neighborhood!?!?” That’s all it’s about.
The sprawl is the sprawl. It’s the New Jersey to NYC of Dallas, except global companies are setting up shop in North Texas because it’s cheap and they can get away with doing anything they want.
"The power of this culture is demonstrated by its growth. ... It tells us that we can take everything, use everything, and those that we took it from never deserved it in the first place. If they did, they would be us." A more cogent summation of The American Dream as it is currently held in the "conservative" mind will not be found. Excellent work, Mr. Nolan.
Look, too, to the area between San Antonio and Austin (where I grew up).
New Braunfels, which used to be a sleepy little town, was on that “fastest growing cities” list not too long ago, and is now a suburb of San Antonio. Its water supply is almost tapped out (as is most of that area) due to overdevelopment), and there is so little oversight of building permits that there is no end in sight.
I visit several times a year, and I don’t think there’s ever been a time in the past 5-10 years when there hasn’t been a major highway construction expansion going on in Austin or San Antonio.
Meanwhile, people who have lived in the area for generations blame it all on people who moved to town from California with their “California politics” and think if they just go away they will take their traffic with them and housing prices + the water supply and utility prices will just go back to “normal.” (I still have a subscription to the local newspaper, so I can see what the locals say.)
While I'm certainly not going to defend encroaching suburbanization – let alone a true icon like New Braunfels likely ending up yet another bland Anywhereville – one area where Texas is at least somewhat reasonable – FOR NOW, and this could readily change – is water.
Bit of a long story, but I studied environmental law in law school and later developed a specialty in water law. As such, I was admittedly stunned to find out Texas has some of the *better* water-conservation practices in the American West & Southwest. California's Central Valley – the disastrously placed area that's the nation's proverbial bread basket – has largely uncontrolled illegal aquifer water use for irrigation during nearly any period of heavy drought. In Texas, however, that's a categorical no-go.
Lest anyone think Texas is somehow "leftist," I'll interject here that it preserves its water supplies mainly because they're absolutely essential ... for oil-and-gas drilling. (Oh, and human use.)
I do, however, know what the San Antonio area is doing to better conserve water. Until less than a decade ago, the entire city was reliant upon water drawn from the Edwards Aquifer, which lies mostly north of the area (including the southern part of Austin). Austin's always had the Highland Lakes for water; San Antonio would be *totally* fucked without the aquifer.
As such, they finally built a ginormous reservoir specifically for the San Antonio vicinity, I think including New Braunfels. I realize water is only going to become a more precious resource over time, but the first parts of the US to get hit with water woes are likely in the Coachella Valley / Vegas / Phoenix triangle.
Finally, not everyone thinks the water supply will "go back to normal." After the last decade's drought, Austin became the first large city in America to mandate one-day-a-week lawn watering, and it has the second most progressive water pricing in America. (Btw that's a great way to dissuade heavy water users, e.g. people with massive yards: the first 3,000 monthly gallons are reasonably priced, but it goes up in tiers the more you use. Makes perfect sense, but when Austin first introduced it, parts of California still had *unmetered* water. (Either Sacramento or Fresno IIRC, but it's in the central / arid part of the state and was quite the surprise.)
Texas is more progressive in its laws and its attitudes than many would think from the playacting that goes on on Fox News. Most of that playacting is by people who are not actually Texas natives, like Dan Patrick, Ken Paxton, Ted Cruz and Chip Roy. Before those guys got a hold of them, Texas had some of the most, if not the most strict gun regulations in the nation. Why? Because that Wild, Wild West thing isn't actually that much fun to live through.
It’s interesting that you say that, because Canyon Lake in particular has been at its lowest levels in decades. Many times when I’ve visited I’ve been unable to enjoy kayaking in the lake (or visit other spring-fed areas).
The local paper has written multiple stories on water issues (see https://herald-zeitung.com/news/water-worries-worsening-drought-in-comal-county-draws-community-concern-sparks-conservation-efforts/article_16073c4b-93f7-4393-b51d-dcd47d494b29.html for one of them). Texas Monthly has also done extensive reporting on this topic.
Yep. I'm also wondering if even though they now have a reservoir whether San Antonio is still pumping out the aquifer. San Marcos fought San Antonio really hard in the 60's and 70's. They were going to pump the reservoir dry without compunction.
Nothing says sense of place like a massive two-car garage door dominating the vernacular architecture, as you meander on a walk on the sidewalks of America, thinking about which next shopping quest is more urgent; the processed food takeout decision, or the online Amazon order. The corporate coup is complete, and the rot is extensive underneath the abundance illusion permeating our ‘little boxes on a hillside’.
I'll never forget the urban studies professor I had in college who said that the presence of front-facing garages in more modern homes made a real statement about whose presence in said homes was prioritized.
The worst part is there usually aren't sidewalks in these neighborhoods. Certainly no connecting footpaths either.
Well said!
“As an out-of-towner not deeply versed in all of the sociopolitical challenges in Texas, I was surprised to learn the extent to which the state is threatened by Sharia law.” Me, too.
Funny. Christian Nationalism has always struck me as intent on imposing rules on others in the manner of the strictest of Sharia law. I wonder if they know how it is defined: a guide for Muslims “on how to live their lives according to divine principles.”
Wide variations on how to interpret this. Just like Christian denominations…
I rue the day when Christian and Islamic extremists discover they have much more in common with each other than they do with their respective countries...That's not going to be a good day. I get the feeling that if Sharia Law WAS somehow implemented, RW Christians will discover very quickly how much they like it
I was astonished to see something that looked like my Houston area parental home appear in an essay about the hideous North Dallas suburbs. It’s been ages since I’ve viewed that part of the country firsthand but I’m not surprised to see a similar style of architecture. It’s just the way things are.
Made me think your viewpoint is, to quote David Blight, “too operatic.” People need houses and they don’t necessarily buy into a particular ideology simply by living in a dwelling of a certain style.
While a lot of folks are saying that this isn't the whole of Texas, I understand your point that this experience of suburbia is uniquely American. This feeling of expansion for its own sake, of Christian Nationalism expressed through conservative and xenophobic politics, the nuclear family and all of its implications live in the Central Valley of California, too.
We exited the milky white hellscape of DFW about two years ago, after 50 years there. Everything you see has been the tres plus ultra goal of the Christo-fascists building on the foundational stones of chattel slavery, cotton, and exploitationl of immigrants. The hypocrisy burns your eyes.
Grew up in University Park down the street from SMU attending a mega (Bible) church and this bit of journalistic ethnography is SPOT ON, though it’s striking to me how even more stridently Dallas evangelical leaders are participating in the culture wars compared to when I grew up there in the 80s/90s. (this of course has been a nation-wide trend)
Whew.
Yes, and what a poetic take on the foolish horrors of this American moment.
Great analysis. I lived in Texas for my first 37 years in Houston, Waco, and Austin. The comments that almost all of Texas’s gargantuan cities are Democratic is true. Massive bulldozing for tangled or in some cases right-angled highways leading to hellish grids of garage doors and flimsy family shit boxes proceeds nonetheless.
Unaccountable, rapacious capitalism is a bipartisan steamroller, flattening, mocking all who stand in the path.
Yes, Dallas and its rings form an especially obvious species of perdition coming to burn us all.
You fit so much more into this one essay. Thank you!
This is rather stunning writing; I'd read forty-nine other chapters on forty-nine visits to forty-nine other cities/states.