Dyer, Roediger and Massood all raise the problems of defining “whiteness” in their articles. They argued that white people often identified themselves with their nationality instead of “white” in general. In my opinion, white is an adjective that describes people’s skin color. White is parallel to black, as well as yellow, brown or any other adjective for skin colors. White doesn’t represent cultural backgrounds or nationalities and so does black; they are colors not cultures. If we want to define “white” in terms of race in an objective sense, Henry Hill is white. His father was Irish and his mother was Sicilian, both Europeans. If Henry isn’t a typical white man, what else can he be? Since white usually represents Europeans, black for Africans, yellow for East Asians, brown for South Americans/Latinos. Henry is purely white because he was purely a European descendent. He is born to be white.
I don’t believe the problem of “whiteness” exists in terms of ethnicity in a cultural and nationalistic sense, because people are identified with their culture and nationality, not with their skin color. In this sense, Henry is not a hundred percent “white” or pure, because he is half Irish and half Sicilians. In the gang members’ mind, he is not a hundred percent Italian, so he is not a hundred percent “white.” No matter how we interpret white, in terms of race and ethnicity, Henry cannot become white because he is already white, or at least half white.
Nevertheless, if we interpret white as being an ordinary citizen, and black as being a gangster, then Henry indeed become white at the end of the film. In the Chinese language, gangs are literally translated into “black societies,” and the Italian Mafia is translated into the “Black Hand Party.” Therefore, no matter how one argues, gangsters are black. (Of course, not in terms of ethnicity) To me, they can never be justified to be “white” as long as they are gangsters. Therefore, Henry was black since the beginning of the film because he had worked for and eventually became part of the gang. He was never white until he was released from prison and became an ordinary citizen.
In terms of ethnicity, Henry’s neighborhoods were tended to be white. After all, the film didn’t show any African Americans living in any of Henry’s neighborhoods. Most of its residents were European descendants, so they should be considered white in terms of race and ethnicity. In terms of nationality and culture, the neighborhoods weren’t purely white. In East New York, Brooklyn, Henry and his father made the neighborhood not “purely white” because they were not Italians like the other residents in the neighborhood. In Queens and Long Island, the same situation applied, Henry an Irish and Italian, Karen, a Jewish, as well as their children, the mix of different ethnicities, made the Italian neighborhood not “purely white” in the nationalistic and cultural sense. In terms of the whiteness as being a good citizen, Henry’s neighborhoods were grey. In his neighborhoods, there were lots of gang members that represent the black parts, and several good citizens that made up the white parts. Together, they made the neighborhood grey.
According to Hayden’s articles, architectures can preserve a piece of history, and people should preserve the memory of the architectures as a mean to preserve the history in the urban areas. Henry’s neighborhoods preserved his history as being a gangster. Many of the vernacular buildings in East New York, Brooklyn, witnessed Henry’s process of becoming a gangster. These buildings also were also symbols and representation of the gang. Henry’s mansion in Long Island symbolized Henry’s growing affluence. Finally, the small white house he lived in after he was released symbolized the beginning of his ordinary and simple life. The vernacular buildings changed as the film proceed and in accord to the plot and Henry’s situation. Therefore, these architectures witnessed and preserved a group of gang members’ lives and their history.
Whether Henry was trying to be white or not, he had left a large piece of inerasable black mark in his personal history. I wondered whether he had regretted his choice as a youth though he said he missed his wealth and power. He served as a negative example to me on how to make choices about life, which I truly appreciated.
