A Place at the table shows the fights of people whose only purpose was to be treaded equally like the rest of the citizens. We thought that parades, fights and pickets were in the past. Today we can see that is not true. For example, the huge number of illegal immigrants who live in this country. These people parades in many cities of this country asking for a immigration reform which will give them legal papers to study, to live and to work in this country. Stories like “The Tale of Two Schools", and “Road Trip for Suffrage” show in different ways how people suffered. Some of these people were discriminated of the color of the skin, and discriminated against their civil rights not let them the right to vote.

       “The Tale of Two Schools” was a story about discriminated immigrants against their color of skin. In 1944, Soledad V. took her children and her brother’s children to enroll at the 17th Street School in Wensminster, Califronia. When she was in the school ready to get her children to enroll, the school administrator told Soledad that he can not accept her children only Soledad’s brother. If she wanted to enroll her children she can, but not in this school. She could enroll them at the school was located 2 or 3 blocks far. This school was for American Mexicans. Soledad’s brother’s children had white skin. At that time American Mexicans or Chicanos were not allowed to be in parks, swimming pools, restaurants or theaters which were only for Anglo people. A little while after this incident Gonzalo Mendez a immigrant from Chihuahua, Mexico and his wife Felicitas Mendez a immigrant from Puerto Rico were in the same situation that Soledad, they decided to file a law suit against Wensminster school on behalf of 5,000 American Mexican children attending segregated inferior schools. After a long and complicated fight in 1947 the Mendez could enroll their children in Wensmisnster School.

       “Road Trip for suffrage” was a story about a group of women who demanded the law to have the right to vote. In Kansas, 1915, Sara Field, Maria K, and Ingerberd K decided to take a road trip cross the country demanding to have the same right that men had the right to vote. In their journey they had many difficulties. At that time the roads were not in good conditions to travel, there were not a lot of gas stations, no restaurants made this road trip very difficult. In some towns people welcomed the women with bands, fireworks, but men did not want women to vote. In every town people signed the women’s petition. These women also suffered bad wheatear conditions like rain, win, and storms. When these women got to the White House and spoke with Woodrow, Wilson, the President of the United States about a amendment giving women the right to vote which was the purpose of this road trip the women carried 100 of only 19,000 feet of the petition signed by the people in each town where these women stopped. In 1920, the amendment giving women the right to vote became law.

       These are the stories how people were discriminated against. The color of the skin was a problem for the children to enroll in the school. The right to vote was a motive that these women had to be recognized by the law. A Place at the Table is a book that shows the fights, problems and positive results for those people who suffered years ago.