Deep in the heart of Texas

Little known historical & ironic fact: these Texas delegates at the Republican convention are almost certainly rabidly anti-immigration, proponents of deporting undocumented immigrants, building a higher border wall, & advocates of militarizing the border. The cowboy hat they are all wearing is of Mexican origin, as is the entire cattle culture of Texas. The US-Mexican War in 1846-48 is known as the first US foreign intervention. Most of the western part of the country had not yet been wrested from Native Americans although Mexico had long claimed much of the west through settlement. The US forcible annexation of Texas was central to its expansionism & that spirit has emboldened much of the idiocy coming out of the state ever since. The cowboy hat along with rodeos & barbeques stand as evidence of the expropriation of Mexican territory & culture. (Photo by Patrick Semansky/AP)