Relevant problems facing rural Blacks and Chicanos are discussed in this paper. It is argued that the "American Dream" creates unrealistically high aspirations and expectations for rural youth and the disadvantaged minorities. If rural youth do not choose to migrate to the urban centers, their only alternative is to take whatever employment is available in their local community, thereby limiting paths for broader occupational and social mobility. If they migrate to the metropolis, greater limitations for social mobility are suffered owing to socially structured impediments in their background environments, their perceptions and self-conceptions, and the negative attitudes other members of the society hold toward them. Rural versus urban youth, rural Blacks and Chicanos, rural Black youth in the South, and Chicano youth in the Southwest are additional topics of concern. It is suggested that strong and widespread social support for a high priority national policy coupled with massive funding aimed at serving rural youth's educational and employment needs be developed. Also, the concepts of formal education and educational programs, the use of advanced technology, and the use of nonschool mechanisms having educational potential need to be thoroughly reviewed. (HBC)