The readings for this week emphasized how the movement to get rid of the pushcarts symbolized to push to Americanize and “clean-up” the poorer Lower East Side immigrant neighborhoods.  Are we still attempting to have working class, immigrant neighborhoods conform to American standards of living and culture, or are we more accepting now of differences in culture among the working class?

Another topic that was discussed was the sky rocketing food prices around World War I, and the protests that followed.  The protesters were mainly women and children.  Keeping in mind that women received the right to vote in 1920, and that these riots took place during the height of the Women’s Suffrage movement, do you think the riots were influenced or fueled by the underlying issue of women’s suffrage?  Conversely, did the riots help perpetuate the suffrage movement?