Is "Big Tex" too white? One Dallas City Council Member thinks so
State Fair of Texas Director is asked whether the tall mascot can "be tanned"
As proof that the Dallas City Council meetings never ceases to provide entertainment as well as governance to its citizenry, one council member recently wondered why the State Fair's mascot, Big Tex, is so ---- white.
As Tim Rogers of "D Magazine" was first to report - during a January 7, 2025, Dallas City Council Committee meeting, Carolyn King Arnold asked State Fair of Texas president Mitchell Glieber “Who makes the decision about the melatonin of Big Tex? (sic)?
For the uninitiated, "Big Tex" is a 55-foot-tall cowboy who has been greeting people entering the State Fair of Texas since 1952. A year after he made his first appearance, someone at the fair had the genius idea to make his mouth move and add some speakers so he could literally welcome people to Dallas Fair Park with a booming "Howdy, Folks!" that has become his signature greeting.
"Big Tex" has undergone several makeovers through the years. For instance, during the 50's he was more bug-eyed, hook-nosed, and (honestly) more frightening than friendly-looking like he is now.
Since then, he's been given an extensive makeover, switching from his original "Lee" branded western duds to the Texas-based brand of "Dickies." "Big Tex" now has the ability to wave at you and turn his head when he moves his mouth to greet you as you enter his fairgrounds.
In addition to less-cartoonish facial features, wrinkles and more "weathered" features were added to "Big Tex" when he turned 50 in 2002. (He had been standing outside in the sun for a half-century, so a bit of a tan and some early signs of possible skin cancer should have been expected).
Unfortunately, all those high-tech upgrades to "Big Tex" resulted in him bursting into flames on his 60th birthday during the final weekend of the State Fair in 2012. Electrical components inside one of his cowboy boots were blamed for the big cowboy’s conflagration.
Since then, "Big Tex" has been rebuilt to withstand 100-mile-per-hour winds without any support wires and also stands a yard taller than before the catastrophic fire. (No word on whether he is also more flame-resistant after the 2012 disaster).
This brings us back to Dallas City Council Member Carolyn King Arnold asking the tough question about "Big Tex" earlier this month: "Can he be tanned?"
"We need to know if we can get a more diverse reflection of the melatonin of Big Tex. Is it a problem with him looking like he’s perhaps an African American face? You know what I’m saying? It’s a tanning process. How do y’all get to that decision so we can look like we’re more inclusive and diverse?," - Dallas City Council Member Carolyn King Arnold (January 7, 2025)
(Thanks to Tim Rogers of D Magazine, you can watch a video of her memorable exchange with State Fair officials about the whiteness of Big Tex HERE)
After inexplicably invoking Beyoncé's name, Council Member Carolyn King Arnold suggested she could accept a "light brown" version of "Big Tex."
According to the 2020 census, Texas demographics are now 39.75% white and 39.26% Hispanic or Latino. Is it time for a browner "Big Mex" to greet fairgoers instead of the more familiar, paler, and unmistakably whiter “Big Tex”?
Share your opinion in the comments section of this article!
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
