Top 10 Texas Embarrassments

As we're often told, 'Don’t mess with Texas'… And by the end of this countdown, you really won't want to! Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the Top 10 Texas Embarrassments! For this list, we’ve looked at the worst stories and scandals to have come out of Texas. There are a lot to choose from…

First of all, Texas is the U.S. national leader when it comes to administering the death penalty – since 1982 over 530 people have been executed by the state, as Texas continually tops the annual charts! However, what’s even more shocking is the state’s reputation for wrongful execution! The cases of Carlos DeLuna and Cameron Todd Willingham have been especially cast into doubt in recent years, but critics believe those to be just the tip of a Texan iceberg when it comes to killing innocent people!

Racial tolerance isn’t something anyone would immediately associate with Texas, but that stereotype reached ridiculous heights in 2015, after residents of the Texan town, Farmersville, believed they were on the edge of a Muslim invasion. Hysteria erupted over plans to build an Islamic cemetery on the outskirts of the town – a move that prompted many to protest at local community meetings, in fear of the Muslim population gaining too great an influence in the area! Religious minorities just don’t stand a chance in Texas, even when they’ve died!

Texas state abortion laws have caused enough controversy within recent years to require regular Supreme Court involvement. In general, it’s more difficult to get an abortion in Texas than anywhere else in the U.S.. And it’s getting steadily harder as well! Abortion clinics have been systematically shut down by authorities, especially since heavy restrictions were passed by the Texas Legislature in 2013… As of October 2015, abortion opponents are still trying to push through a ruling that could result in there being less than 10 clinics open across the entire state!

#7: Campaign for Creationism

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While most religious beliefs are all but outlawed in Texas, Creationism is always threatening a comeback! In 2013, all four of the state’s Republican candidates for Lieutenant Governor were of the opinion that Creationism should be reinstated as an educational necessity. A school of thought that asks its believers to dispel the theory of evolution as some sort of myth, it understands the Book of Genesis on a literal level… And it’s long since been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court! Good job, Texas… You’re over 27 years behind everybody else!

Of course, one of the main men behind recently questionable Texan law is former Governor, Rick Perry… But Perry was himself the subject of shameful headlines in 2011, after the Washington Post ran with a story surrounding the Perry family hunting camp. Leased by the Perrys since 1983, the ranch had once had a racially offensive name, which had been proudly emblazoned across a rock face. The Perrys claim that the rock was painted over immediately upon their arrival at the camp, but other witnesses claim differently!

#5: Ridiculous Texas Laws

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We’ve already covered abortion, education and the death penalty, but Texas’ ludicrous law making extends further still! In Texas, you can only hold office if you officially acknowledge a ‘supreme being’. Prior to 2008, one was able to own five sex toys, but it was illegal to own six… And, in probably the State’s most outdated stance, Texas is still resisting same-sex marriage laws, despite it being made legal in 2015 by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In terms of Texas sensationalism, there’s nothing bigger, better or more brilliantly dumb than the Jade Helm saga! Jade Helm 15 was a large-scale military training operation conducted, in part, in Texas. It had its critics nationwide, some branding the whole thing as ‘political paranoia’… However, in Texas, the paranoia superseded any acceptable levels, as the media and leading politicians argued that Jade Helm was the first step in an Obama-led invasion, aiming to forcefully ‘take over’ Texas once and for all!

Everything about our next entry is an embarrassment. David Koresh and his Branch Davidian religious sect are exactly the stereotype of cult insanity – God-fearing, gun-wielding, and sexually stunted. It’s no wonder they found themselves under investigation! However, that investigation was hardly carried out especially effectively… On February 28th, 1993, a none-too-secret raid took place on a Branch Davidian compound, just outside Waco, Texas. A gunfight followed, then a 51-day stand-off, culminating in a massive fire. In all, over 80 people died, and America as a nation shook its head!

Ever since the American Civil War, Texas has fashioned itself separately from the rest of the U.S… And since the 1990s, efforts geared toward secession have picked up pace. In the ‘90s, the Republic of Texas Organization claimed its state was being ‘held captive’ by the United States. The Texas Nationalist Movement carried the fight into the twenty-first century, and after the 2012 election, an online petition in favor of secession garnered 125,000 signatures! Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. - Alarm Clock Bomb - Racist Textbooks - Public Shootings - Lack of LGBT Rights

#1: John F. Kennedy’s Assassination

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Easily the biggest black mark on recent Texan history, the JFK assassination was one of the major events of the twentieth century… And it all happened in Dealey Plaza, Dallas! John F. Kennedy had been travelling in a presidential motorcade through the city when he was fatally wounded. Massive conspiracy theories concerning governmental cover-ups have since emerged, but for Texas, their part in proceedings will never change. Texas will always be the state within which someone shot the president – as far as American reputations go; it doesn’t get much worse than that! Do you agree with our list? Which Texan embarrassment did we overlook? For more shameful top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.