Julia Saccamano
Professor Murphy
MHC 10201
7 March 2016
Friends, Foes, or Forces: The Types of Multiracial Relationships Involving Irish Immigrants in Mid-Nineteenth Century New York City
Through the portrayal of personal relationships between characters such as William Cutting and Amsterdam Vallon, and of general group relationships between Irish, Nativists, and government officials, Martin Scorsese’s film Gangs of New York depicts two distinct types of multiracial coexistence that were present during mid- nineteenth century New York City: one that is power orient, and one that is friendship orientated. While the film highlights on the Civil War and 1863 New York City Draft Riots and the antagonistic racial relationships present in New York City at the time, it also illustrates the fact that not everyone was anti-immigration all the time. Many of the people who accepted immigrants and were willing to coexist with them, however, were not this way because of fondness but rather because of power. These people found ways to use the immigrants to promote their own needs. Yet, occasionally there were actual positive multi-racial relationships like the one between Amsterdam and Bill (at least for a short time).
The film does an adequate job conveying the discontent and tensions between the various groups that were present in New York City during the the 1860s. There was abundant hostility between immigrants and nativists. The nativist American opposition is exemplified through Bill “the butcher” Cutting and his blatant animosity towards all things Irish; at one point he even claims he would shoot every immigrant coming into the harbor if he could. He cites both history and religion as reasons against continued Irish immigration. He is proud of his American heritage; it’s as if he views America as a possession that he is unwilling to share. He claims: “My father gave his life, making this country what it is.” No new Irish immigrant has that history, so what right does one have to occupy America? Americans also were suspicious of the religion many Irish followed: Catholicism. It was feared that it would spread and that followers would be more loyal to the Pope than their country. Overall, New York City was a hostile environment where the nativists hated the Irish and vice versa.
While all of the discontent and and hostility among the nativists and Irish are made clear, Gangs of New York also shows relationships in which (semi-) peaceful coexistence is achieved. Throughout the film, immigrants and nativists seem to be living in harmony, or at least without battles like the one that occurred between Priest Vallon and Bill occurring daily. However, this coexistence comes at a price. It seems the only time there is ‘coexistence’ between groups is when the more powerful group is getting something from the less powerful one. For example, immigrants coming off the boats are met by Boss Tweed with open arms, smiling faces, and warm welcomes. Yet this kindness is not done out of the goodness of Tweed’s heart, but rather to gain their votes. In the movie, he tells Bill: “You may or may not know, Bill, that everyday I go down to the waterfront with hot soup for the Irish as they come ashore. Its part of building a political base.” During the Draft Riots when many poor immigrants died, Tweed wasn’t unhappy because people died bit rather because votes were lost. When standing over a mass grave he morosely says: “We’re burying a lot of votes tonight.” He doesn’t think of the immigrants as people or feel compassion, but rather he manipulates them to serve his own needs.
In addition to the gilded façade of welcome from Boss Tweed, there is the blackmail- type aid offered by the army to immigrants. During one of the scenes where Irish immigrants are coming off the boats they are lined up in front of an army recruiter who tells each of them “That document makes you a citizen, and this one makes you a private in the Union army. Now get out there and serve your country.” They are promised food, money, and clothes when they enlist. They don’t know where they are going, or what they are fighting for, but they are persuaded to partake because of promises that were made to them.
Aside from politicians and the government, the ‘coexistence’ immigrants faced with nativists was even more precarious in places like the five points. Like in the other cases, the peace for immigrants was only kept because the more powerful group wanted something from them. For example, on more than one occasion Bill claims to own the five points and he holds the power of it as if it were his fist. When Amsterdam meets Bill for the first time as a man, Bill threatens him because he doesn’t pay Bill enough. “Don’t you never come in here empty handed again. You gotta pay for the pleasure of my company” he says. The less powerful group, the Irish immigrants, have to live under the control of the nativists, with constant fear and exploitation.
Despite the abusive relationships and outright antagonism, the film does show a few occasions of actual multi-racial friendship and bonding. This only happens when the characters get to know each other personally, instead of just as their racial classification. Throughout the film, for example, as Bill and Amsterdam spend time together a bond is formed. They begin to act like father and son and Bill especially starts to see past Amsterdam’s Irish immigrant label. That’s not to say that he begins to see the Irish differently, just that he can see Amsterdam that way. When criticizing the Irish, he goes out of his way to placate Amsterdam: “On the seventh day the Lord rested, but before that he did, he squatted over the side of England and what came out of him… was Ireland. No offence son.”
It seems that the only time there is multiracial coexistence in the move Gangs of New York is when the government or nativists (aka the powerful) have something to gain from the other races. Yet, in the movie when characters actually spend time together and bond, the racial divides seem to fade away or are, for the most part, ignored. It seems there is only outright hatred for groups when they are thought of in the abstract, and not as individuals. The film shows how racial tensions were not as black- and- white as people like Bill and Amsterdam would like to believe. Not only does the film depict the widely known racial tensions present in New York City at the time, but it also draws attention to the other types of relationships members of various races had with each other. Whether the were friends, foes, or forced into coexistence, the film Gangs of New York shows just how many different types of relationships there were across the races.
