Lack of Minority Involvement in FFA Diana E Tello
Texas A&M University
Author Note
Lack of Minority Involvement in FFA
“Minority,” it is a word so widely used in today’s society that it’s true definition may begin
to become clouded. A minority group is not just a small number of people amongst the vast
majority. A minority group is a subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their lives than members of a dominant or majority group (Schaefer, 1993). That is a powerful definition that most do not understand and some do not even attempt it.
When in reality if we all attempted to understand the definition of a minority group, then perhaps we would have more minorities represented in high ranking positions and maybe it would not
have taken so long to have a president whose race was not white. The same reasons apply in agricultural classrooms, as I look around me; those surrounding me are mostly white. On the fall
2013 block, there will only be one minority represented, and that would me. I am in agriculture because my father was never ashamed of his agriculture background and he always shared those feelings with me. However, that does not hold true for most parents of minority students. Several
factors affect the involvement of minority students in FFA, in particular cultural background. It is basis of parent thinking, it is the reasons behind their decisions, and their way of life. The
culture of minorities is something that throughout history has not changed very much. That is the reason why it is important that agricultural teachers teach parents, that agriculture no longer is what it used to be many years ago. Agriculture is an industry that feeds the world, and with a
growing population agriculture is a multi-billion dollar industry. Parents need to be informed that careers in agriculture are no longer only left to the poor farmer or the field labors, there now
Targeting Minority History
As I mentioned previously, it is very important to understand the diverse cultures of minority groups because it can make communicating easier with the parents of minority students. Parents can be difficult to deal with, because they stick to what they believe is still true in today’s society. The basis of their beliefs mainly stem from their culture’s history, as agricultural
teachers we must learn their history in order to understand why their view of today’s agriculture,
is different from our own.
I will begin by exploring the roots of African Americans in agriculture the most common tie is slavery. African Americans were used in large numbers in agriculture in the early days of
our Nation. Slaves were believed to be useful to grow commercial crops like olives, grapes, sugar, cotton, and coffee; because of the extreme need for a large amount of labor to plant and harvest these crops. The work produced money that went to the white man but the work of many
African Americans was not compensated. Slave’s lives were destroyed by tearing apart families and harming their bodies. Although these events happened a long time ago, they will never be
erased from history. As long as the events are remembered, the evils of slavery will always be associated to agriculture. That is where work needs to be done, work to change that perception of agriculture when associated with the African American culture. Although discrimination still
exists in some parts of the world, the United States has moved toward a good, and
technologically advanced way of farming. People are no longer used to harvest cotton or to
manually clean cotton; it is all done by machines. Machines that were engineered on a computer by an individual of high intellect, that is getting paid good money for his work. Parents need to
because they will know that FFA is an organization that creates leaders and professionals. It states on the National FFA Organization website that, “we are still the Future Farmers of
America. But, we are the Future Biologists, Future Chemists, Future Veterinarians, Future Engineers and Future Entrepreneurs of America, too” (Who are we, n.d).
More recent history is what haunts agriculture in the Hispanic culture, happening in the early to mid-1900s (Chavez, C., Jensen, R. J., & Hammerback, J. C., 2002). Even today,
thousands of Hispanics face poverty and abuse in jobs related to agriculture. They are paid less than minimum wage and deal with terrible work conditions, in jobs like picking grapes or strawberries. Mexicans who come to the United States illegally to try to keep family members
back home alive, do not have a choice but to submit, so they do not lose their job or worse, get deported (Chavez, C., Jensen, R. J., & Hammerback, J. C., 2002). My parents are part of the
lucky few, they came here as teenagers and became legal residents under President Ronald Regan’s immigration reform of 1986. They are not afraid to enjoy a life in agriculture, by owning cattle and planting crops because they are not being forced to a live a life hidden and
scared. Unfortunately, I know as a teacher I will face those parents, who believe their child should pursue any career that did not involve agriculture. To them, their child working in
agriculture seems like a life time of hard work and sacrifices lost. Those parents believe their son or daughter will be doing back breaking work, under the hot sun, all day long. Getting paid just enough to survive and not having enough to eat. Those are the reasons that will run through
most Hispanic parent’s mind, when they think of agriculture in the future of their children. The sad truth is that it is not only the parents that think that way. In my own family, I have cousins how have dedicated their lives to be excellent students, sacrificing their own young lives, so that
touch a course in agriculture because they grew up in poverty because of their parents working in agriculture. So they choose to live a better life for their future children. This all happens because
of misfortunate events of life, but as an agriculture teacher I am left responsible of informing parents and students alike of the great opportunities in agriculture.
Increasing the Numbers
I know in my future I will be working long hours, and I will deal with stubborn animals and parents alike. I chose this life for myself, this is what I want and what I find fulfilling. With
so many careers in agriculture, it should not be hard to find something that will appeal to each student. The first step is to inform students about careers in agriculture. This would happen in a
Principles of AFNR course, usually taken by freshmen. In my opinion, this is a very important lesson that many teachers over look. It can be compared to a church, if a church fails to interest the youth in the congregation then, they will leave, leaving the church to become a church of
elders that with time will cease to exist. Freshmen have to be interested in order to want to continue in agriculture, teachers do not need to convince the “country kids,” that have been
involved in agriculture since they were born. Teachers should spark interest in students that were not born into agriculture, or have misconceptions of agriculture. Including the parents in the learning process would be an excellent idea, especially if there are a high number of minority
students in agricultural classes that are not involved in FFA. By sending home an information booklet that overviewed, possible careers in agriculture, listing the education required, and entry
level salaries. For example, an agriculture engineer is a career requiring four years of college including mechanical and civil engineer courses and many advanced math courses. Agriculture
engineers can be hired by companies like John Deere starting at a $70,000 per year
world population keeps increasing, meaning food supplies need to increase as well. It is left to people in the agriculture industry to invent new methods to be able to keep up with the demand.
Information as detailed as this will attract the attention of young students and will inform parents of the vast possibilities for the future of their children in the agriculture industry.
Other methods of attracting students, other than entry level students would be by widely promoting competition that will seem appealing to a wide variety of students. Career
development events like floriculture, job interview, and extemporaneous public speaking are just a few events that have connections to agriculture but can be widely used in different career pathways. As a young student, I always found it fun in the spring to attend several events and
miss a few school days. I do not think that student thinking has changed much, so promoting National Convention, camps, along with competitions would be appealing to students. There is
one way that an agriculture teacher could increase minority involvement substantially and that is through informing both students and parents about, scholarship availabilities. Money is a big factor in the lives of minorities; many do not have the funds to send all their children to college
so a lot of weight rests on the shoulders of these young students. Scholarships could mean the difference between a drop-out or a college graduate, so it is crucial to let it be known to all
students how it is possible to gain scholarships.
Conclusion
This topic is very personal to me, because as a female, Mexican American and future agricultural teacher I will be an example to several students. Students who need role models and
References
USDA ERS - State Fact Sheets: agriculture income. (n.d.). USDA Economic Research Service . Retrieved April 4, 2013, from
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets/state-data.aspx?StateFIPS=00#.UWTlVE1mT0Q
Chavez, C., Jensen, R. J., & Hammerback, J. C. (2002). The words of Ce̕sar Cha̕vez. College Station: Texas A & M University Press.
Occupational Outlook Handbook. (n.d.). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved April 5, 2013, from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Healthcare/Veterinarians.htm
Schaefer, R. T. (2001). Race and ethnicity in the United States. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Who we are . (n.d.). National FFA Organization. Retrieved April 5, 2013, from https://www.ffa.org/About/WhoWeAre/Pages/default.aspx
slavery (sociology) : Agriculture -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Britannica Online
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