I was watching House M.D. and it showed two Italian brothers who were gangsters and involved in illegal activity. Like a crime family, Godfather type.
So, I know where the stereotype originates from. Italians came from Italy to the shores of America as migrants in the last century and were able to make a life of their own, but a small sliver (I think) of the community did involve themselves in not so legal activities. I thought it was the thing of the past that Italians were disproportionately involved in Criminal activities and I had though they got mixed in the American melting pot and probably are not disproportionately involved in crimes anymore. So, is the stereotype of Italian gangsters still true to this day (I know probably to a lesser degree?)
I must say I am not white/American/Italian or anyone who has anything to do with these groups. I have never seen an Italian in real life and I don’t hold any prejudices against or for them.
Reminder that House started in 2004, 19 years ago.
Im not an expert but I dont really think that the stereotype still holds up, like in a “A pizza restaurant in NY?, definetly a front for the Mafia” or knowing an Italian and immediately thinking they’re mobsters.
The great families in the US had a huge downfall starting at the 70s, and by the 90s they were no longer the big classical Mafia families.
Some of them crashed because of internal struggle, others by the preassure of their greed, and others just went legal.
Also the gov cracked down hard on racketeering and mobster activity.
The Mafia concept has evolved and they moved to other types of illegal activity.
But I think that most people when they think about Italian mobsters, they think about the Godfather, Al Capone, and the golden age of the prohibition and the 50s.
I’m originally from a small town outside of Naples, Italy and I had just arrived in New York City last year. I was hoping to find work as a cook or chef since I had trained in some of the best kitchens back home. The day after I arrived, I received a mysterious letter stamped with a seal that looked like a cross on my apartment door. It summoned me to appear at a restaurant downtown called “Tony’s” at 7pm sharp.
That evening, I put on my best suit and headed to the address. The restaurant was in a dingy part of the city I didn’t recognize. I walked inside the dark interior and was greeted by a hostess who led me silently to a back room. There I found two men dressed in fine Italian suits sitting at a table covered in plates of pasta, pizza, antipasto, and glasses of wine. However, they didn’t offer me anything to eat or drink.
The men began to ask me strange questions in Italian. First, the older one in the pinstriped suit asked if I had any boating experience and could operate a motorboat at night. When I said no, the younger one in the track suit asked my views on wearing “concrete galoshes” and whether I knew how to swim in them. They also asked when my favorite holiday was and seemed very interested when I answered Valentine’s Day.
I was utterly confused by their line of questioning and asked them to explain what this meeting was about. The older man slammed his fist on the table and told me I clearly was not a good fit for the “Columbus Club.” Before I could respond, they ushered me out of the restaurant. I still have no idea what they wanted from me or what that mysterious club was. But I decided it was best not to pursue it any further.
The worst part of the story is that they didn’t offer you any food. That’s just unforgivable :(
That’s how I know it’s fake.
damn! you serious? Seriously though, are you serious. This sounds like a very interesting encounter.
Like many other things, it really depends on the community and whatnot. For instance, I was building a power plant in Pennsylvania, and rented an apartment in Old Forge; I lived directly across the street from where they held the annual Italian heritage festival, and about a block from a very locally famous cafe. Outside this cafe sat a Buick with a custom license plate that said “MAFIA”
There were also signs everywhere around town that said something along the lines of “Soandso has been missing for an amount of time and SOMEONE IN THIS TOWN KNOWS WHERE HE IS”
I also shoveled the older lady who lived next door’s sidewalk and porch the first time it snowed while I was there; she said she was gonna tell her son what I did, and then I never had to shovel another sidewalk for the next two years. Mine or elseways.
So that could be something.
Whoever has that license plate is almost certainly not in the mob, they don’t like to use the word mafia or mob. Generally they just call their criminal activity “this thing we have”. Vaguealities and innuendo help insulate the organization from prosecution.
Vaguealities and innuendo help insulate the organization from prosecution.
Interesting. they should hire my girlfriend, she’s good at that.
I also shoveled the older lady who lived next door’s sidewalk and porch the first time it snowed while I was there; she said she was gonna tell her son what I did, and then I never had to shovel another sidewalk for the next two years. Mine or elseways.
My English is not as good as yours. Can you explain this more (sorry)? The son was an italian, an influential man who made sure the sidewalks were shovelled?
The whole community was heavily Italian, steeped in mafia lore, and generally had an air of “being looked after.” The shoveling incident just seemed to me a little like I had been turned into a “made man”.
It was probably all just me being a naive little Kentucky boy far from home, but… I dunno.
I live in the Northeast US. The Italian mafia still exists but it is not near what it used to be. The FBI/DOJ has been very successful in investigating and prosecuting members of the mob with laws we have called RICO. Basically RICO laws allow all members of a criminal organization to be charged for the actions of other members of the the organization. This helps prevent the boss and the other higher ups from insulating themselves from the crimes through intermediaries and soldiers that are willing to do prison time without “ratting” on anyone else in the org.
In the US, the mafia still exists, but as corporations, not families, since a lot of their old crimes of choice are legal now. Sports gambling, marijuana, human trafficking disguised as porn, etc.
that’s a great answer. mega corps are today’s mafias
