Discrimination Against Rural Residents of the United States

People who live out in the country are often discriminated against by the United States Government. This biggest source for discrimination against rural residents is by the United States Postal Service. The discrimination against rural residents has led to countless pitfalls and trials to those who live in the country.

Discrimination against Rural Residents at the Federal Level:

The USPS does not deliver mail in some areas of the United States. For those rural residents, the USPS provides rural residents with a free post office box. To qualify for the free post office box, you have to annually submit a form with proof of your legal street address. While this is great for rural residents, coming up with the proof is next to impossible. How can you receive mail to your legal street address when the Post Office will not deliver it because you have a Post Office Box instead of a legal street address? Many government agencies will not accept a Post Office Box as a mailing address, insisting the mail must be delivered to your street address. For example, apply for benefits from New Mexico's Department of Workforce Solutions. They insist upon having your street address. When the unemployment check is sent to the post office for delivery with your street address, it is sent back as undeliverable because "no such address exists." According to the USPS regulations, the post office box is the only place it is authorized to deliver the unemployment check.

Discrimination of Rural Residents at the State Level: Proof of Residency:

Try to get a driver's license when your legal mailing address is a post office box. Due to the tightening of regulations since 9/11, to receive a driver's license in the state of New Mexico, you must show two proof's of residents. Anything addressed to a post office box does not constitute proof of residence. It must have your physical address. It is actually easier for an illegal alien to get a driver's license in New Mexico than it is for a teenager who lives in a rural setting. An illegal alien can come up with rent receipts and proof from the welfare department with the street address, but the rural residents who grew up in the area can have a nightmare due to the fact that everything issued to the child comes through the post office box because they cannot receive any mail to their street address.

Banks and Insurance Companies Discriminate Against Rural Residents:

Banks and Insurance Companies insist on having your street address. No matter how you explain the fact that you cannot receive mail to your street address, some clerk will decide to save you a trip to the post office and use the street address when mailing you your statement. Guess what, you never receive your necessary documents and bills because the USPS sent it back as undeliverable. And once your street address is in the computer system, it is next to impossible to get it corrected to all areas of the same company.

To save yourself aggravation, use a four-line address whenever possible. Your name is on the top line, your street address is on the second line, the third line is your post office box, and the fourth line is your city, state and zip code.

Discrimination against rural residents is a nightmare, especially to life-long residents who have had to develop new ways to work around regulations and government involvement in the United States. It was not until the late 1990's that residents in rural Torrance County even had street addresses. Today, those same street addresses exasperate a continual nightmare for rural residents, both new and old.