THE WEIRD WORLD OF BAYTOWN, TEXAS part II

Well, I've finally figured out how to get people to comment more here at Real Art: trash their hometown. I got some pretty good comments after my scathing attack on Baytown yesterday, and it only seems fair to bump the responses up from Haloscan, where they are eventually erased after a couple of months, to the main page, especially because they raise some good points that deserve my response. So without any further ado, let's look at those comments.

I was amazed and honored for my blog to be visited by someone at the center of the controversy about which I wrote in the post mentioned above. No, not the Exxon emission controversy; I'm sure those oil lords don't even know I exist. I'm talking about the woman who pastors Baytown's one-and-only gay-friendly congregation, Eklektos, which, by using the worship space of the Southern Baptist church Faith Harbour, roused the ire of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention enough to revoke the membership of Eklektos' generous host:

Not all of Baytown supports the disaffiliation of Faith Harbour from the SBTC. Read today's editorial in the Baytown Sun:

http://baytownsun.com/

and the letter to the editor titled "Heroic People" on Jan 23.

http://baytownsun.com/

and "WWJD" on Jan 22.

http://baytownsun.com/

BTW, I found your site by doing a blog search on Faith Harbour and Eklektos. Some of us are doing our best to help Baytown see itself for what it is.

Wendy Bailey Homepage

I responded to Wendy earlier today:

Sorry, Wendy, I mean no offense. No doubt, you are among the intelligent and enlightened subpopulation that I mentioned. That's actually a weird thing: on an individual level, Baytown really isn't such a bad place; it's the group dynamic that seems so bizarre. Keep up the good work. Changing culture and conventional wisdom is not an easy thing to do.

Ron

Of course, when I wrote that this afternoon, I had no idea who she is--I only figured that out after clicking through the links she posted. Now that I know what kind of trouble she's causing in Baytown, I want to add this: Wendy, you totally rock!!!! I have a pretty good idea of what you're up against in Baytown, and I think that you're a true hero. It's not easy, I imagine, to establish a gay-friendly church anywhere in the state of Texas, including areas like Montrose. But to fight the good fight in Baytown...like I said, you rock. If there were more Christians like you in the world, maybe I would still count myself as a believer. Well, probably not, but it's absolutely wonderful to see somebody who not only swims against the current by taking Christ's words seriously, but who also is willing to do so publicly. I'm sure there are quite a few people there who think you're doing Satan's work, so watch your back. But then, didn't Jesus say something to the extent that those who are persecuted in his name are blessed?
Anyway, thanks for dropping by.

The next comment is from my successor at the high school where I used to teach, Kyle, who writes Great Blogs of Fire:

Okay. Wow. That's pretty harsh, I would say, but not surprising. For people who didn't grow up in a town like Baytown it can seem like a very strange place. I never thought of it as anything other than a working class suburb of Houston. It wasn't until I moved back here almost 3 years ago that I realized that it is less of a suburb and more of a nearby city, like you said. I spent the 4 years I was in HS (at the school you taught at and I teach at) wanting to leave. The first song I ever wrote when I learned to play guitar was about the pollution and filth of Baytown. Since moving back I've adopted a slogan for my hometown: "Big City Filth, Big City Crime, Small Town Boredom." My wife is from a very conservative town in west Texas where I attended college. The first year we lived here she probably cried a couple times a month about having to live here. While I have to disagree with the racism claim (I don't think that racial tension is any better or worse here than other towns this size) I think that you paint a fairly acurate, however blunt, picture of our fair city.

Then, why, if I felt this way when I left, did I come back? The short answer is because I had contacts that lead to jobs that didn't exist in the D/FW area where I was living. The long answer is more complex to an extent I don't even think I can answer satisfactorily. People like Wendy above (whom I know very well from the BLT and her daughter being in the theatre program here at Sterling, among other things) exist here. People like my dad and grandparents and people at the Baytown Little Theatre and the Harbour exist here. We have our fair share of town neglect and issues that get swept under the rug, but like Wendy said, some people want to change that. Why? I don't know. I grew up here, I guess. I want to see it thrive as a more intellectual and diverse city, instead of the town that it is now, whatever that is. I won't live here forever, that's for sure. My wife wouldn't have it. But, my parents will always be here and so will many people I love and respect. Baytown is like an annoying brother. I can talk bad about it all day long, but it really hurts when someone else does.

And Did you know?

The Baytown Sun endorsed John Kerry for President, and caught some flack about it, to boot?

Kyle

Ah, Kyle, I apologize for the kick in the gut. You're right; I was blunt, and perhaps I should have tempered my criticism by emphasizing more all the cool people I got to know while I was working there. All communities are complex, and it is unfair for me to paint any community with such broad strokes. You seem to understand where I'm coming from, but just to make sure, let me emphasize that I'm talking far more about prevailing cultural attitudes than about any particular individuals. And just so you know, I've been far more harsh on the community where I grew up--I'll say this about Baytown: the people there are far more interesting and individualistic than the bland cookie-cutter yuppies among whom I came of age in Kingwood; there are some bizarre folk in your hometown, and that's worth a few points in my book.

As for the issue of racism, you may be right; it's hard to gauge exactly how racist an area actually is. My sense of that probably comes more from my associations with African-Americans there, many of whom, both adults and teenagers, in my opinion, seem to firmly believe that there is definitely a racial heirarchy of some sort in Baytown, and, by and large, don't talk much to white people about it, if only to avoid arguments that they feel they couldn't win anyway. As far as what I observed in the way of white people's behavior, well, I heard students talk, and can only assume that their attitudes reflect their famlies' attitudes: at Sterling, at least, there is certainly a segment of the white student population that harbors racist tendencies.

But, then, it is fair to ask if that makes Baytown any more racist than any other east Texas town. I don't know. Maybe I'm still pissed at the white girl who tried to get me fired for trying to explain to a class why it is socially acceptable for black comedians to make fun of whites but not the reverse. "You're acting like you're not white!" she said. Next thing I knew I was in the principal's office trying to explain that I did not, in fact, give students recommendations on what drugs they should take.

Ah, good times.

Of course, now I'm in Louisiana, and Texas seems to have nothing on this state in terms of race relations. That is, the racism here is much more visible; I've encountered much more of what I consider to be racist behavior and language in Baton Rouge than I ever did in the Houston area. Then there's New Orleans' Ninth Ward neighborhood...

And Kyle, I don't think it's so strange that you've returned to Baytown for the time being. I returned to Kingwood when I was in my twenties for pretty much the same reasons. It is my home, after all, and, despite my loathing for the place, I also have to admit my love for it. Like you said, hometowns are like family. It may suck, but it's mine.

Nonetheless, I, myself, feel a great need to be consistent with my criticism. That is, I see, in both Baytown and Kingwood, the same kinds of issues taking place nationally against which I rail away on my blog every day, played out on the local level, and because of my personal connection with these two communities, I feel more responsibility to criticize them than, say, Jasper or Vidor.

By the way, that's pretty damned cool about the Sun. I didn't know they had it in them.

Kyle also noted that he's written at length about the Eklektos/Faith Harbour controversy on his blog. We're in tech rehearsals for the show I'm in right now, so I haven't had a chance to check it out, but Kyle's a good blogger, so I'm planning on making my way over there soon. And you should too.

Finally, my young friend Adam, also from Baytown, and who writes the blog Shattered Soapbox, comments:

The WEIRDEST thing, I'll say this again, is that I haven't heard ANYONE talking about either of those things ANYWHERE.

There are some kids here that actually want to work at Exxon for the rest of their lives...

You know, the fact that so few people seem to be discussing extraordinary events there is as good an explanation as any for why such extreme attitudes dominate Baytown's overall culture. That is, apathy rules. Of course, I could say the same thing about the whole country, too. And, given the bleakness of job prospects overall, I can't say that I blame these Exxon kids. I mean, they are pretty good jobs when you get right down to it. But what a sad option: work for Wal-Mart for crap wages and no benefits, or sell your soul and have an evil multi-national oil giant take care of you for life.

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