"Jesse doesn't have any experience," Steve Williams said. "The guy has never help public office in his life. He doesn't know anything about balancing a budget. Jackson seems obsessed about being the vice-president. He'll probably call Bush and ask to be his running-mate."

"I don't know enough about Bush or Dukakis yet," Lamar student Kim Starks said. "I'm not going to support Jesse just because he's Black. Jesse is a preacher, not a politician. He's not qualified. It's really stupid to vote for Jesse just because he's Black. He's a joke. He's never held any type of political office. He should take his bible back to the church, not the White House."

Bentsen has established some civil rights credentials early in his political career. The senator voted against the poll tax in 1949, a device used in the South too help disenfranchise Blacks by forcing citizens to pay for the right to vote.

"He's a fair senator," McElroy said. "He's been fair to minorities in Texas. He has a long-standing civil rights record. I think he's going to be a good vice-president."

"I don't know much about Bentsen, but I hear he's pretty good," Randon said. "I think Blacks will still support the Democratic ticket. There's no way I'm going to vote for Bush."

THE question about supporting the real Texan is really not a question. Texas' Republican Senator Phil Gram predicted that Texans will support a Texan president instead of a Texan Vice-President any day.

Well, Mr. Gramm I have to disagree. Bush is from several states: Massachusetts (where he was actually born), Connecticut, Maine and Texas. He's registered as a Texan. His address is a room at the Houstonian Hotel. Recently, Texan Democrats had bologna sandwiches in his hotel room, because its bologna that he is from Texas.

"Bentsen is a traditional Texan conservative," Professor Julian Davis, chair of the Public Affairs Department at Prarie View A&M and a Jackson delegate. "His positions are more in line with Republicans. He's really popular in Texas. He has made some attemps to recognize the New South."

"Bentsen will help Dukakis in Texas," Davis said. "I will go out on a limb and predict that Dukakis will carry Texas because of Bentsen."

"I'm not that crazy about Jesse Jackson anyway," Ray Ingram said, an engineer in Houston. "I'm going to vote for Dukakis because "I'm a Democrat. I also like the fact that Lloyd Bentsen is a Texan."

A Democrat has never won the White House without carrying Texas. Dukakis went with the odds, picking a very popular senator from Texas. Jackson had an incredible campaign. He proved that a Black man can be seriously considered for President of the United States.

But after talking to some Black Texans, it becomes clear that they will vote for what they believe in. Be it Democrat, Republican or Texan.

And that's the Texan way.