This year, my family gathered for Juneteenth at my cousin’s home. While family members gathered and talked, she worked diligently in the kitchen, cooking food from her home in Senegal. Her friends, also African immigrants, joked and laughed as their children played with my little cousins in the backyard, and the older adults started talking politics. They complained about having to take personal time off for the holiday, the effects of Trump on their lives, the improvements they saw under Biden. The conversation dipped into subject after subject, and I, the only member of Gen Z at the gathering, listened intently as these baby boomers preached fire and brimstone. While I do not remember most of the details of the conversation, I do remember the stern look on my Haitian aunt’s face as she said, “This is why you need to vote.”

I thought about that moment again when watching the debate, watching as Trump spun tales about Haitians eating cats and dogs in Springfield. At first, I laughed, thinking the claim was too ridiculous to believe. Then I remembered my aunt, a Haitian woman who never hid her ancestry, and the impact of these statements dawned on me. I had been laughing at a very real threat to her life, just like I had seen others do to me. 

I am originally from Houston. I’ve always joked that my Southern pride stopped the second the sweet tea ran out, and I knew from a young age that I didn’t want to remain in the state. Despite my long standing desire to leave, I decided this year to vote back home. 

To many, this seems like a strange decision. Texas is a profoundly red state that shows no sign of swinging any time soon. I’ve even noticed some leftist communities both in person and online regard the state as a lost cause, and condemn the people therein to that fate. People from outside the state, often from profoundly blue states, make fun of Texas for being a backward land full of backward people. I still remember hearing my friends make jokes about the freeze of 2021, a natural disaster that killed many and destroyed my best friend’s home. They would make light of the very real damage the event caused because they believed Texas deserved it for voting Republican. 

What these people fail to recognize is that Texas is incredibly diverse, and many areas of it are liberal. In my experience, the larger population centers tend to vote blue, and there are still marginalized people who are impacted by policies they never voted in favor of. When these concerns are brought up, marginalized people are often met with the dismissive, “If you hate it so much, just move” remark. I was one of the lucky ones, able to spend my college years out of state and largely unaffected by the threats the law posed to my life and liberty, but I do not represent the majority of Texans. 

I remember my friends, first and second generation immigrants who cannot easily move to and fro. I remember my friend who barely has the resources to attend college in state, much less move to a whole new place. I remember the people who do not have the money nor the connections to just up and move to a whole new state where they are all alone. The Texas I know isn’t some desert full of backwater hicks, but instead a flourishing community full of people from all over the world. These are people who are just as deserving of comfort, peace, and empathy as anyone who resides in a swing or blue state.

I believe my vote would best serve Texas because this year there’s more on the ballot than just the presidency. This year, we have the chance to impact the Senate, more specifically to oust Ted Cruz. For those who do not know, Ted Cruz is a Texas senator who attempted to flee to Mexico while Texans were suffering during the 2021 freeze. The ability to choose a new senator can lead to change for millions of Texans and help us avoid future disasters.

I know that Texas will likely remain red during this national election, and I can make peace with that. The point of voting for me is not just about winning, but instead about proving that you want change. It is asserting that you and others like you are still around and willing to fight for what you believe in. I believe that Texas is more than just a sinking ship, and that the people who cannot escape the effects of Republican policies are worth fighting for. When I vote this November, I will be voting for my friends and my family, because everyone deserves a chance at safety, even the “backwater hicks.”