Texas La Frontera Research Paper

Texas’s La Frontera The state of Texas is the second largest state in terms of population and territory in the country. With over 267,000 square miles of territory, the Lone Star State is home to many diverse regions and communities (Brown et al., 9). As a matter of fact, it is stipulated that the state can be divided into up to five different states due to its diversified regions. One of these unique regions is the state’s border region. The state’s border region is a unique geographic and cultural area that is defined by its own distinctive economy, politics, and music and cuisine. The state’s border region is economically defined by its geographic location. Jasmine Garsd points out that the Texas-Mexico border constitutes more than 1,200

Brown et al., states that the area’s close ties with Mexico due to “family, friends, media, and trade” dissipates the physical border between both countries as the area shares a unique culture (10). One of the strongest aspects of this culture is the fact that Spanish is the primary language in many communities and cities across Texas’s border region. As a matter of fact, some cities across this region have made Spanish part of the local government’s way of governing such as in El Cenizo, Texas. In 1999, the small Texas city declared Spanish as the official language of the town in order to get more people involved in local government, which caused serious controversy around the country (Gorov). Despite the fact the city of Laredo has never declared an official language, there is no doubt that many city services and processes are also communicated in Spanish due to the high prevalence of the language in the community. Due to the area’s high Latino population, the area is widely known as being strongly part of the Democratic Party. A unique situation concerning the state is widely conservative throughout other

Due to the area’s close ties with Mexico, the border region enjoys an influx of both American and Mexican pop music as well as traditional hits from both countries. An excellent example of this mixing of cultures is the Tejano group Intocable. Garsd points out Intocable is an interesting musical group “inspired by Mexican music, country hits and rock bands like Def Leppard” (Garsd). In terms of cuisine, the same can be said about the border region’s taste on food. Due to the area’s geographic location, the border region enjoys an excellent display of authentic food from both countries as burgers and tacos are truly enjoyed. As a matter of fact, the mixture of both cultures has led to the creation of unique Texan border cuisine known as Tex-Mex, which features Mexican food with unique Texan and American elements to it. This illustrates how the physical border does not inhibit the ability for the area’s culture to be inhibited as