We Are Not “Those” Nationalists

So-called white nationalists have made the news lately with a mix of bigoted speech and violence, a throwback to earlier times of racial protest. While most in the Union can easily condemn these demonstrations, this is a point of personal disgust for people like me, in more ways than one. First of all, I’m embarrassed as a white person that there are still people that still spout this kind of racist filth. Second, I’m enraged that these clowns are being portrayed in the media as the sole opposition to the Anarcho-Marxist rioters run amuck in many U.S. cities. However, there’s another reason. You see, I’m a Texas Nationalist, part of the Texas Nationalist Movement, and I don’t want to be lumped in with those morons. So let’s be clear: we are not those nationalists.

For the sake of clarity, let’s talk first a bit about nationalism as a philosophy. Merriam-Webster defines nationalism as “loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially:  a sense of national consciousness, exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations.” The first synonym is none other than “patriotism.” When I say I’m a Texas nationalist, I mean that I am patriotically loyal to Texas first, even above loyalty to the USA. That doesn’t make me an extremist, a racist, or a traitor. I’m proud of Texas’ independent spirit, culture, history, and people. This is what Webster describes as our “national consciousness,” and the Texas nation is made up of many different races and national backgrounds.

Above all, when I say I’m a Texas nationalist, I mean that I advocate for the political, economic, and cultural independence of Texas. I believe that Texas has the resources to stand on its own as an independent nation, and that we would be better off without the crushing debt, bureaucratic machinery, and endless wars of Washington. The U.S. government long ago gave up being for the people and instead, the bloated bureaucracy takes great pains to first preserve and expand itself, to expand the power and funds of the elites second, and lastly to diminish the influence and liberty of regular U.S. citizens. I believe Texans are the best people to govern Texas, and that makes me a Texas nationalist.

While I’m at it, let me say a few words about symbols. There are few symbols, at the moment, as divisive as the Confederate Battle Flag. Whether you argue heritage not hate, or see the flag as a symbol of racist oppression, the flag, and the Civil War from from which it came, are irrelevant to the Texas Nationalist Movement. We advocate for secession on logical and legal grounds, but those grounds are wholely removed from the racist roots of the southern secession, or the blood and soil chants of Neo-Nazis, for that matter. We most certainly sympathize with the “leave me alone to do my own thing” anti-federal spirit that many times is embodied by the Confederate flag. Even so, we cannot escape the divisiveness and racist connotations that the rebel flag embodies. And so, we will not use it as a symbol for our movement.  The Texas Nationalist Movement flag is based on the Lorenzo de Zavala flag, a single white star on a blue flag, with the letters TEXAS in between the points of the star. This flag has no racist connotation, no history of bigotry, and no modern association with anything other than the Texas Nationalist Movement. It is TNM’s preferred symbol.

Texas nationalism is not hatred. Texas nationalism is not bigotry. We want Texans of all races, creeds, and political backgrounds to unite together in self-determination. We want the opportunity to govern ourselves as a nation, by participating in the existing political processes. We are not armed and dangerous, we are voters. We are not extremists, we are your neighbors.  We are not alt-right, we are a broad coalition of hundreds of thousands of Texas residents who just want to be Texas to be free to choose her own destiny.  We are not those nationalists.