The doubly jeopardized: Nonmetropolitan blacks and Mexicans

Nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) blacks and Mexicans suffer a double jeopardy owing to their geographic location and minority group status. Compared with their metropolitan (metro) counterparts and with nonmetro whites, they have considerably lower median incomes and higher poverty rates (Jensen and Tienda, 1989). The deprived position of rural minorities imposes obvious micro and macro social costs. The poor suffer from inadequate health care, nutrition, housing, and educational opportunities, while societal costs are inherent in outlays for social programs and foregone output. While fluctuating in severity since the 1960s, the comparative economic disadvantage of rural minorities has been sizable and persistent (Jensen and Tienda, 1989). Their plight stands in stark contrast to the value of equal opportunity and constitutes a social problem that demands greater political and academic attention.