CIVIL RIGHTS
Prog ram Delivery and Outreach
providing comprehensive services to USDA customers. have created new bar riers. Their locations have not considered the needs of m inority and l i mited resource customers who may have d i fiiculty in reaching more d i stant centers than customers with greater resources. Their services have not provided for cultural and language differences that make USDA programs inaccessible or less relevant to m inority customer needs. And their services have fai led to recogni ze the different needs of smal l-scale enterpri ses. be they farms. busi nesses, communities, or fami l ies.
Cultural Insensitivity Interferes with Minority Participation
U S DA program outreach e fforts have not made sufficient use of partnersh ips with comm u ni ty-based organizations. land-grant and other educational i nsti tutions, and program d iversity i n i tiatives that understand the spec i fic needs of m i nority and l im i ted-resource customers. These organi zations and institutions can help U S DA agencies address d i scri m i natory program rules. develop appropriate special programs. and target outreach in the most effective ways to reach m inority communities and other groups with special needs. Customers at the recent l i steni n g sessions reiterated the special needs of d i fferent m i nority and social ly d isadvantaged communities. All communities agreed that they are overlooked when i n formation is released about avai lable U S DA programs. USDA agencies do not make use o f m inority community organi zational and media outlets to be sure a l l e l igible participants know about their programs. Cultural barriers prevent the communication necessary for good service by U S DA programs. All communities also agreed that m i nority youth are being discouraged from becomi n g farmers. They witness the struggles of thei r parents to obtain fai r treatment and the poor return for their efforts. Listening scssion partici pants said young m inorities are not recrui ted for U S DA youth programs in sufficient number. And those few who do choose to try to farm are turned down for ownership and operati ng loans because they are too young or too i nexperienced, even when they hold college degrees i n agricu lture. Young men and women who want to fol low in the family footsteps. either by tak i ng over the fami l y farm or by buying their own. oftentimes find it difficult to obtain financing for their ventures. Accord i ng to several speakers at the listening sessions. FSA ha<; denied loans to new or beginning farmers despite years of working on their family farm or receiving advanced degrees in agriculture. A farmer at the Hal i fax. NC session said that in 1 994. his son received a letter from FmHA which said. "You lack sufficient training and experience and education to be successful in farming to assure reasonable re-payment for the loan requested:' H i s son. who grew up on a 300-acre fami ly farm, was a graduate of A&T State U niversity with a major i n agricultural education. S ince h i s son had i n herited land and equipment from his grandfather, all he needed was operating money. This speaker mentioned an FmHA pamphlet
2 7 C I V I L RIGHTS AT T H E U S DEPARTMENT OF AGRI CULTURE