Due to severe discrimination in the South, aid from New Deal programs often did not reach black people. Many blacks also feared for their lives and the well-being of their families and refrained from signing their names when writing to officials and President Roosevelt. African Americans wrote letters to President Roosevelt complaining about the conditions they faced when trying to participate in New Deal programs. One author complains that “some get a little and some get nothing” whenever a shipment of food arrives in town (McElvaine, 83). Another African American complains that supplies never reach him and that Georgia officials use everything sent to them (McElvaine, 83). New Deal programs, such as the WPA, were supposed to provide work equally, but this was not the case. In the South, jobs often went to whites rather than blacks, making it nearly impossible for blacks to earn a living. One author criticizes the Works Progress Administration, a large part of the New Deal, and asks, "Is the government insisting on Jim Crow for WPA projects?" (McElvaine, 89 years old). The Great Depression affected everyone, but African Americans faced poverty and discrimination.