When world oil prices plummeted in the 1980s the Texas economy shattered. However, the subsequent economic recovery contributed to a diversified economy. As population growth resumed, Texas surpassed New York to become the nation’s second-largest state, at the same time placing unprecedented burdens on the educational system and social services. Urban areas came to comprise a more affluent and well educated population while state agricultural sections, such as West Texas and the Rio Grande Valley, comprised poorer. Two other trends characterize Texas in transition; politically, Texas became more conservative, and demographically whites became a minority of the state’s population after 2005.

The Texas Population in Transition

Most new Anglo Texans came from the Midwest during the Sunbelt migration years, disrupting patterns of white southern migration. In 2005, the combined population of African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians living in the state surpassed 50 percent of the state’s population. Job availability brings increasing numbers of immigrants. Mexico provides the majority of illegal immigrants but other Latin American countries increasingly contribute both legal and illegal residents.

Poverty remains associated with race, ethnicity, and age. Twenty-three percent of the state’s children live in poverty, most of them in single-parent households. In 1993, Texas was forty-sixth in the amount spent on public welfare, forty-eighth in AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) payments to children, forty-ninth in aid to the mentally ill, and fiftieth in immunizations provided for children and the number of citizens with health insurance.

In 2005, a quarter of Texans lacked health insurance (1.4 million children) the worst uninsured rate in the nation. Passage of a major federal welfare reform bill in 1996 ended AFDC and replaced it with a program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), in the form of block grants to the states. It imposed a five-year lifetime limit on cash assistance, required that recipients work to receive benefits, and has had mixed results. Immigration keeps the median age of Texans below the national average. It would be lower still if it were not for retired Midwesterners (“snowbirds”) who winter in South Texas. 2010, the increased life expectancy and the retirement of Baby Boomers, is expected to signal sobering realities for Texas social services.

The Texas Economy in Transition

Oil was the heart of the Texas economy during the 1970s and early 1980s. The economic bust that followed contributed to rising energy costs, increases in non-OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil production, and the failure of OPEC nations to obey the cartel’s production quotas, followed by OPEC suspension of all production controls in 1986, contributed to prolonged bad economic times. Forced to diversify, the state’s economy emerged much healthier.

By the 1990s, the oil industry was supplanted by manufacturing, transportation, utilities, financial services, communications, and transportation. Texas led in the number of new jobs created and the state’s economy was growing the fastest of the nine largest states. When in 1993, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) removed most trade restrictions between the U. S., Mexico and Canada, growth of manufacturing, construction, and trade along the Mexican border expanded. High-tech also moved into Texas when the world’s two largest manufacturers of personal computers—Dell and Compaq—established headquarters. On the other hand, three-quarters of all non-agricultural jobs in the state were service-sector jobs, and military-related employment fell by nearly 30 percent. While per capita income improved, Texas continued to lag behind twenty-seven other states.

A core triangle defined by Dallas on the north, Houston on the south, and Austin/San Antonio on the west has prospered. However, East Texas and far West Texas, dependent on farming and oil production, experienced little recovery and remain dependent on federal government in the form of subsidies, crop insurance, and disaster relief. An attempt to wean farmers from subsidies in 1996 (paradoxically called the “Freedom to Farm Act”) failed. The 1990s drought resulted in the highest level of federal aid to Texas farmers in history. Today’s global marketplace places farmers and ranchers even more at risk.

The Changing Face of Urban Texas

Texas cities were the fastest growing in the nation in the 1990s. Factors contributing to this growth include the availability of cheap land, the proximity to Mexico, and immigration from overseas. However, population growth was so fast that the lack of an expansive transportation system became apparent. Governor Rick Perry’s recent proposal to build a “Trans-Texas Corridor,” a multi-use superhighway, rail line, and communications system, paid for through user tolls, remains highly controversial.

Onto A World Stage: Texas Culture in the Modern Era

The single greatest change in the role of religion in Texas has been the increase in Roman Catholic membership, surpassing Southern Baptists (not including black Baptists). The increase is directly tied to the growth of the Hispanic population. Evangelical Protestantism has grown while Protestant mainline denominations have lost members to more conservative or fundamentalist sects. The same emotional and controversial issues--homosexuality, abortion, and feminism—continue to pull main-line denominations apart. While the Christian Coalition’s influence has been evident at all levels of politics, the growing number of Muslim mosques, Buddhist temples, and ethnic Christian (Protestant) congregations, reflect transitions in Texas culture.

Texans at Play: Country Music, Films and History, Sports and Leisure

Texas will always be associated with “country” music but the state is also home to the “Third Coast.” In classical music, the Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth symphonies are nationally and internationally renowned. In theatre, Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee was associated with both the University of Houston and the Alley Theater. Texan Larry L. King wrote several dramatic works but remains best known for his Broadway hit, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Houstonian Tommy Tune won nine Tony Awards—the only individual to win a Tony in four categories.

“Austin City Limits,” a television program founded in 1974, exposed the Texas music scene to the nation. Country-and-western music is nationally represented by Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Murphey, and the swing band Asleep at the Wheel. Nashville continued to make other Texans famous, too. Prominent performers include George Jones, Ray Price,Tanya Tucker, Kenny Rogers and George Strait.

Modern Texas music also displays an ethnic aspect. Freddie Fender and Johnny Rodriguez have made their mark singing in Spanish and English. Selena had just wrapped up her first English-language album (the first Tejano album to reach No. 1 on the pop charts) when she was murdered in 1995. Fort Worth’s Ornette Coleman leaves his mark in creating “free jazz” in the late 1950s. Clarinetist John Carter is perhaps even better known. His five-album recording, Roots and Foklore:  Episodes in the Development of American Folk Music, traces African American history through jazz.

Television anchors, television and newspaper journalists from Texas include Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Jim Lehrer, Bill Moyers, and Sam Donaldson. Historians Alwyn Barr, Arnold de Leon, Lewis L. Gould, David Weber, and Donald L. Chipman achieved national recognition. Some of the earliest examples of the New Social History consist of histories of specific Texas communities in the Spanish era and beyond: Jesus F. de la Teja on San Antonio, Gilberto Hinojosa on Laredo, and Randolph B. Campbell on Harrison County.

The Paradox of Texas Politics

A competitive two-party system operates in Texas. From 1978 to 1995, the two parties alternately presided over the governor’s office. Paradoxically, regardless of the party in power, Texas has been governed by conservatives. In 1978 William P. Clements became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction. However, by 1980, the economy weakened and the unemployment rate rose to over 6 percent. Democrat Mark White took the gubernatorial seat from Clements, showing a progressive bent in securing health care for the indigent, workers’ compensation and unemployment benefits for farm workers, tougher pesticide regulations as well as educational reforms. The next economic downturn translated into another political upheaval with Clements’ reelection in 1982.

Nationally, Democrats were hampered by the nomination of Michael S. Dukakis for president and Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen for vice-president. The party in Texas hoped to reverse the low turnout in rural areas and among minority voters, factors in White’s defeat, but the Republican national ticket also included a Texan, former vice-president George Bush. As Republicans solidified their hold on statewide races, Clements vetoed a record fifty-five bills alienating the Democratically-controlled legislature and thwarting their legislative agenda.  

Although Ann Richards was elected in 1990, in reality, Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock, a fiscal conservative, ran the legislature while the Governor did what she did best—promoting the advantages of the state’s economy across the nation. Richards was a natural political star. She defeated her Democratic challengers in the primary and Republican Clayton Williams, in the fall. Republican Senator Phil Gramm was re-elected and future Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison became state treasurer, the same position Richards had used to gain the governor’s office. Economic growth provided a high approval rating, helping her gain national exposure. Richards diversified state government, appointing 4,000 persons to boards and commissions—48 percent were women, 25 percent were Hispanic, and 12 percent were African American.

Four years later Dallas billionaire Ross Perot, running against President George Bush and Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, tilted the results in Clinton’s favor, helping to place Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Senate. The state now had two Republicans in the Senate. Furthermore, the voters elected George W. Bush to the governor’s office. His popular conservative agenda —endorsing school vouchers while supporting the death penalty and a wholesale restructuring of the state tax system—yielded high approval ratings. A booming economy insured his re-election and 1996 presidential bid. Bush made the most of Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock’s political endorsement lauding his nonpartisan working relationship with Democrats. Al Gore, on the other hand, had to separate himself from Bill Clinton’s personal scandals. Although Bush lost the popular vote to Gore, he was declared the winner of the electoral vote following the Florida recount and ruling by the U. S. Supreme Court. George W. Bush brought Texans to Washington to serve in his administration. The House Majority Leader and Majority Whip were Texans as well.

Lieutenant Governor Rick Perry succeeded to the governorship and promised to make higher education his top legislative priority, while pursuing economy in government and supporting conservative social policies. Such measures -- including a ban on same-sex civil unions and a voucher program for private schools -- were championed by social conservatives, but have failed in the legislature. To increase support a divided legislature attempted to redraw legislative districts to reflect population changes from the 2000 census. The court-drawn map favored Republicans, who, assisted by $190,000 in campaign funds from the Republican National Committee, wrested control of the house from the Democrats in 2002. When the 2003 legislature convened, Republican leaders announced their intention to redraw the state’s congressional districts.

U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay spearheaded the action which outraged Democrats. Fifty house Democrats, dubbed the “Killer D’s,” secretly fled to Ardmore, Oklahoma, avoiding a quorum and defeating the bill. Adding fuel to the fire, Governor Perry called a special session to press the matter but eleven senate Democrats fled to Albuquerque, New Mexico. A third special session was required before the Republicans succeeded in passing a new redistricting map to complete the Republican takeover of the Texas congressional delegation. DeLay was subsequently indicted for illegally funneling corporate money to the Republican legislative candidates in the 2002 elections and resigned in 2006.

A contentious gubernatorial election in 2006 reflected dissatisfaction. Chris Bell, a one-time congressman who had lost his seat in the DeLay engineered redistricting effort, ran as a Democrat. Independent candidates included Republican state comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn and entertainer-novelist Richard “Kinky” Friedman. Perry won reelection with 39 percent of the vote.

Strengthening the Hispanic vote through voter registration drives through the 1970s and 1980s, Hispanics elected to public office in 1976 totaled 2,215. Attorney General Dan Morales joined Henry B. Gonzalez, long-time San Antonio Congressman, and Henry Cisneros, mayor of San Antonio and later Clinton appointee, as a high-profile Hispanic leader. Even Bush made inroads into the Hispanic vote, frequently addressing Hispanic audiences in Spanish. Black political power significantly strengthened in Dallas and Houston as evidenced by the election of black mayors in the 1990s. However, Henry Cisneros was forced to resign from his position as housing secretary in the Clinton administration following a scandal and state attorney general Dan Morales voluntarily retired from politics. In 2002 gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez, spending $63 million of his personal fortune in the race, garnered only 40 percent of the vote.