Problem
In the readings from A Different Mirror, Ronald Takaki illustrates the cycle of immigration, including the hostility and opposition new immigrants faced as they tried to carve a new home for themselves in America. For example, we have read about the hardship the Irish faced at home and when they came to America. At the same time, these immigrants were needed to work.
Now, view how Martin Scorsese dramatically focused on the tension between the "native born" and the immigrant in the first half of his movie, Gangs of New York. In your opinion, how does Gangs of New York exemplify and speak to the issues raised by Takaki with regard to the treatment of successive waves of immigrants by the American born? Can any parallels be drawn from Takaki's discussion on the Irish and the English in America? Does Martin Scorsese, an Italian American, succeed in his cross-cultural depiction of a culture outside of his own?