others suspected the cause was permeated by automobile exhausts, sewers, garbage, and other animals and insects. the department of health considered these hypotheses but could not find sufficient evidence pointing to these suspicions to be the cause. discrimination certain groups of people, such as impoverished and newer immigrants, were scapegoated during the epidemic. however, the truth turned out to be the contrary. during this time, many people from different countries across europe were immigrating to the united states. new york was a trendy place for these immigrants to settle in. the social hierarchy was the native-born people or white anglo-saxon protestants were at the top of the food chain, followed by the irish and germans who were considered established immigrants. the people deemed inferior were the polish, russian, and italian immigrants who held the reputation of lacking hygiene and living in overcrowded and dirty areas. dr. emerson, the city commissioner of health, assumed that the epicenter of cases was due to overcrowded housing of these immigrant groups who primarily lived in lower manhattan and brooklyn. the new york times reported that italian immigrants had brought the disease to america, even though no record of cases passed through ellis island. the claim was not accurate as studies displayed that staten island, which had the lowest foreign-born population out of all the boroughs, had the highest proportion of cases. additionally, more of the cases among children stemmed from native-born or established immigrant groups. it was determined that the overlooked immigrants had lower mortality rates from polio as opposed to children from the standard american family. a study found that over 60% of the cases in children were from native-born families. black americans were also a target of discrimination during the epidemic. like the white immigrant groups, people assumed that african americans were one of the primary spreaders of polio because they tended to be lower-skilled labor workers and lived in crowded and dilapidated communities. the health department's previous statement about the epicenter of the disease fueled hatred towards this group. however, the city's health department stated that black children were less susceptible to polio than white children. they also determined that blonde-haired people were more likely than brown-haired people to be infected, which supported the evidence that the native-born people who tended to be white anglo-saxon protestants had the highest infection rates out of all the groups. public reaction the immediate reaction as polio spread throughout the city from the public was fear, especially from parents who had young children. the media pleaded for parents not to let their children participate in public gatherings, leading to the more extensive shutdown of many movie theaters, parks, and more. on july 4, the new york times published a fear-mongering headline that read, "bar all children from the movies in paralysis war… 72 new cases in the city twenty-three deaths occurred here yesterday." many mothers refused to send their children to hospitals because they assumed their children would be placed on their death beds instead of receiving sufficient treatment that could potentially prevent disability. the mothers thoroughly believed they would do a better job caring for their child if they contracted polio increasing their chances of survival. not only were they fearful of letting their children out of the house, but mothers also took very extreme measures to combat polio, such as stuffing the cracks of windows with rags to prevent the disease from getting in. these unhealthy measures put infants at higher risk and created other issues such as overheating. children dripped in their sweat in the dog days of summer. families were worried to the point that they shipped their children out of new york city in mass numbers. on july 5, the new york times estimated that 50,000 children were sent away where their parents felt that they would be the safest. here were other instances of fear as protocols set by the city's government became stricter. a flatbush, brooklyn nurse who worked for the public school district reported to the police that she received a letter from parents threatening her life if she continued to report their children to the board of health over suspicion of polio.