“The Queens of the Texas High Plains” (Amarillo nickname)
Amarillo, Texas, has been compared to the borough of Queens, in New York City. The Wikipedia page for Queens states that it is “the most linguistically and ethnically diverse place on Earth.”
The article “Why This Texas City Is Saying Yes to Refugees While the Governor Says No; In earlier years, Amarillo had more refugees per capita than any other Texas city. The newcomers are considered neighbors now” by Manny Fernandez was published in the New York (NY) Times on January 21, 2020. Fernandez gave Amarillo a new nickname:
“Amarillo — a flat, wind-battered and majority-white city of 200,000 — has become the Queens of the Texas High Plains.”
Wikipedia: Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo (/ˌæməˈrɪloʊ/ AM-ə-RIL-oh; Spanish for “yellow”) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the most populous city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The estimated population of Amarillo was 200,393 as of April 1, 2020, comprising nearly half of the population of the panhandle. The Amarillo metropolitan area had an estimated population of 308,297 as of 2020.
Wikipedia: Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located at the western end of Long Island, it is the largest of the five New York City boroughs by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn and by Nassau County to its east, and shares maritime borders with the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, as well as with New Jersey. Queens is the most linguistically and ethnically diverse place on Earth.
New York (NY) Times
Why This Texas City Is Saying Yes to Refugees While the Governor Says No
In earlier years, Amarillo had more refugees per capita than any other Texas city. The newcomers are considered neighbors now.
By Manny Fernandez
Jan. 21, 2020
AMARILLO, Texas — Patrick Maboko came to the Texas Panhandle from the Democratic Republic of Congo 10 years ago as a refugee. He still speaks Swahili, but often makes his way around town these days in boots and a cowboy hat.
(...)
Amarillo — a flat, wind-battered and majority-white city of 200,000 — has become the Queens of the Texas High Plains.
X/Twitter
Kim Murphy
@kimmurphy
Welcome to Amarillo, which @mannyNYT calls “the Queens of the Texas High Plains.” Gov. Greg Abbott wants to ban new refugees in Texas, but here, even conservative Tea Partiers aren’t so sure. “You can only take politics and things so far,” said one. https://nytimes.com/2020/01/21/us/refugees-states-texas-abbott.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage
11:04 AM · Jan 21, 2020
X/Twitter
Julie Bloom
@Julesm_b
Such a good portrait of Amarillo, Tex., from @mannyfernandez in this story…“Amarillo — a flat, wind-battered and majority-white city of 200,000 — has become the Queens of the Texas High Plains.” https://nyti.ms/3aEri8O
5:30 PM · Jan 21, 2020
X/Twitter
Elizabeth Trovall
@elizTrovall
“Amarillo — a flat, wind-battered and majority-white city of 200,000 — has become the Queens of the Texas High Plains.”
such a brilliant mix of perspectives on #refugee resettlement by
@mannyNYT
Quote
Manny Fernandez
@mannyNYT
Jan 21, 2020
In Amarillo, I saw a glimpse of the new Texas. Congolese refugees who shop for cowboy hats. United Nations-style apartment complexes with Burmese, Somali, Mexican-Americans. And conservatives who welcome refugees yet support a GOP governor who doesn’t. https://nyti.ms/3aEri8O
11:11 AM · Jan 22, 2020
MIX94.1 (Amarillo, TX)
Amarillo’s Most Unexpected Nickname Involves New York City
Charlie
Published: June 19, 2024
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To my knowledge, the first time this nickname appeared was in January 2020. An article was published by the New York Times about immigration and refugees, and the primary focus of the article was Amarillo, Texas. Those of us from Amarillo know exactly why that makes sense.
Amarillo has a long history of being a city that welcomes refugees with open arms. There are multiple languages spoken at schools across the city. There are places of worship representing faiths from all over the world. It’s not the kind of thing you would expect from a city famous for a mutant steak people try to eat for bragging rights.
This is why Amarillo was dubbed “the Queens of the Texas High Plains”. It’s a nickname that points right at our culturally diverse population in the heart of the Texas panhandle. I’m not mad about it. I think it works. It’s better than some of the others we’ve been given.