Immigration is our story of origin, the heroic journey taken by our forebears, including those of the First Nations, whose ancestors had to cross the Bering Straits land bridge to get here. Immigration enlists all of the energy, imagination, and most of all, the courage and determination of those who undertake it when their present circumstances fall short.
The latest victim of ill-considered speech is Bob McNair, owner of the Houston Texans, a National Football League franchise always eager for the right kind of attention. Unfortunately, a throwaway line Mr. McNair used during a recent closed-door NFL owners meeting produced exactly the sort of recognition the team doesn’t want.
Hurricane Harvey delivered chaos and calamity up and down the most populous parts of Texas' Gulf Coast. The state is resourceful and will be up to the task of recovery, but there could be some self-inflicted challenges impeding that recovery.
Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city, has been ranked the most diverse metropolitan area in the nation, supplanting both New York and Los Angeles in the number, variety and size of ethnic communities that call it home. It hosts not only world-class companies in all of the performing arts, but has more Fortune 500 headquarters than any city other than New York.
Texas, never outdone in matters political, has a long and storied history of creative electoral district map-making. Like the rest of the Confederate South, it drew districts to marginalize black and Latino voting for generations; a tactic that led to the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Aggressive gerrymandering remains alive and well in Texas and throughout the nation.
