Irish Mob Violence in Boston: In Search of a Solution - Essay Example

Irish Mob Violence in Boston: In Search of a Solution For most parts of the twentieth century to the present, the populace of Boston continues to be scared and terrified by the fierce and often gruesome bloodbath that are undertaken on the streets of city among the various gangs of the city, particularly Irish American groups, often referred to as the Irish mobs. Irish mob violence has become integrally linked to the history of Boston. Recently, a lot of books and studies and marked revelations of untold stories have brought the issue prominently back into public attention. However, what remains the crux of the matter is that the issue is far from resolved and Boston is far from safe. There are certain names that the very mentions of Irish mob in Boston immediately throw up: names like Whitey Bulger, Steve Nemii, and Alex Rocco. Although they were some of the key figures, yet they were not the only people involved in the terrible Irish mob wars that have haunted Boston for decades. Boston gang war has always been a complex web of related parties trying to take hold of loansharking, banking, drug dealing, prostitution and other aspects of organized crime in this industrial city, complicated by the dubious involvement of the FBI. Through books (like the Black Mass) and films (like Departed) referring to a many of these aspects, these dealings have taken a near romantic dimension in the popular imagination: with betrayals, double-crosses, passion and typical Irish 'gift of the gab' well in display. This paper does not want to get into the details of the careers, lives and deaths of the leading Irish mob gangsters, which have been studied and repeated with alarming repetitiveness and sensationality. What it will attempt to do instead, is to look at the entire phenomenon as a particular case within the overarching and generic subject of organized crime. Similarly, the careers of some of the leading personalities like Whitey Bulger will be seen as an organic development from within the core progress of Irish mob activity and not isolated cases of criminal ingenuity. The argument will start with an attempt to understand th phenomenon of organized crime, what causes it - and then try to understand the phenomenon of Irish mob war in Boston from within that theoretical premise. Organized Crime: Why and How Organized crime is as old as human civilization itself. From the pirates who terrorized the important trade routes of the previous days, to the highwaymen who haunted the lonely, nocturnal highways, organized crime has a history that is as old, as eventful, as significant and probably in certain ways more interesting than mainstream chronological history. The question of organized crime is integrally linked to the question of nation-building and the advocacy of nation-states. Saint Augustine, for example, thought that nation-states were basically guided by the idea of theft, or kleptocracy. Even if we endorse the enlightenment rhetoric and give an alternative definition to the concept of 'nation-states', organized crime necessarily still constitutes the existence of sub-nations within nations. The fierce clannishness exhibited in most organized crimes makes it clear that the phenomenon has a strong social implication. Very often organized crime works as minor groups within the national security system and flaunts an alternative ideology. Fiercely partisional in ideology and disruptive in nature: these crime groups often affect the economy of a nation in significant ways. A common phenomenon that is observed when it comes to organized criminal groups is the way it is more popular among immigrant groups, which is clearly visible with its distrust in the police and the national security system. The fact that most criminal groups in fact attract some degree of support from its local community also warrant the fact that at least to some limited extent, organized gangs and criminal groups represent some kind of mob and widespread dissent that give their ostensible violence some kind of twisted justification. Most organized criminal groups are aware of the significance of the social support that they need, and is therefore careful to secure it in one way or another. At times when social support is not spontaneous, they employ other extortionist measures to attract social support like bribery, threat, links within the judiciary and the executive branches of government action, and symbiotic relationship with legitimate business. The last is again one of the most common business methodologies followed by organized criminal groups - running its shady underworld dealing behind a 'front'. Building construction, dock loading, legal gambling are the most common ones, behind which these groups engage in highly sophisticated and well coordinated activities of extortion, hijacking, fraud, money laundering, prostitution and drug trafficking. The Irish mob exhibits all these characteristics of an organized criminal group quite clearly and strongly, establishing their stature as the only non-mafia group to dominate the crime scene at any part of the US. Irish mob gang: Rise and Important Gangs The history of the Irish mob in Boston is integrally linked to the history of the city and its development into a major industrial center, which attracted a large number of immigrants to the city. (English 7) Of all the migrant groups to reside in Boston, the Irish and the Italians were the most prominent ones. Along with the great influx of money that industrialization brought into the city, it also brought in crime. The growing vices we commonly associate with a fast developing industrial economy like gambling, laundering and prostitution also started to have a strong presence in the city of Boston. Quite typically, a great degree of competition was seen between the various warring migrant groups. Although most of these early attempts were isolated and disorganized, by the 1930s, they started to become more organized in nature. The control of the crime scene in Boston was clearly divided into two parts in the early twentieth century, with control exercised by two different groups. The Irish-American neighborhoods of Boston like Somerville, Charlestown, South Boston (Southie), Roxbury and Dorchester have been major hubs of Irish mob activity from the early part of the 20th century. The Gustin Gang, led by Frank Wallace was the ruler of this powerful underworld scene. The North End, on the other hand, was controlled by the Italian controlled mafia groups. At that period, it was tussle for domination between the Irish and the Italian gangs that sparked off much of the gang wars. Frank Wallace was ambushed by Italian gangsters in the city's North End, setting loose a string of terrible gang wars between Irish mob groups for the control of the city. However, most of these crimes were disorganized and there was steady decline in the Irish mob groups because of their mututal rivalry and lack of 'discipline' and organization. It was all to change in the 1960s with the rise of the Winter Hill Gang. Most of the Irish mob scene in Boston centered on the activities of the Winter Hill Gang and its founder James 'Buddy' McLean. The McLean family was involved in a large number of shady dealings, but was most prominent in the field of horse race fixing across the United States. The rise of James J. 'Whitey' Bulger and Steve 'Rifleman' Flemmi are integrally connected to the history of the Winter Hill gang. The prosecution of 21 members of the Winter Hill gang, including Howie Winter in 1979 created a lacuna in the gang's leadership, a space that was duly filled by Bulger and Flemmi: both of Irish-Italian heritages. The fray of gang control and organized crime is never empty. It never allows a single player: and athe McLean group had its rival in the McLaughlin group with its base in Charlestown. The phenomenon also known as the Charlestown Mob in Boston, it was led by Bernard and Edward 'Punchy' McLaughlin. The animosity of these two groups led to some of the fiercest road fights and gang wars that rocked Boston for well over a decade. By the end of the war, the Charlestown group was completely disintegrated with the death of all key members and important leaders. Whatever remained got integrated with the Winter Hill Gang. The rise of Whitey Bulger and his infiltration of the FBI with the help of corrupt Federal agent John J. Connolly, in a great bid to clear the field of his enemies is now the stuff for fiction and legends. None is still sure as to what was the exact deal between the FBI and Whitey Bulger, only that Bulger himself always had the lead whenever there was a Federal raid in his search, whereas everyone else was getting caught. (Repetto 243) His use as a Upper Echelon Informant of the FBI led to a virtual whitewash of his rival gangs and individuals from the Boston scene. (Boyer 69) Effect on Bostonians: Way to a Solution Bostonians have long experienced the threat of living continuously under the vigilance of two major mafia groups, more particularly the Irish mob. It has seen gang fights on the open streets from the 1930s itself. There is a great deal of mob interference in its bars, casinos, industries and almost all spheres of public activity, thus jeopardizing the security of the city to a great extent. With the unholy alliance between Whitey Bulger and the mafia gradually coming to the open, it has become a major cause of concern for average Bostonians. What has complicated the condition is that with the gradual disintegration of the Irish mob, a new competition for crime control has developed between the Italian and the Irish groups. Internet, with new possibilities of online extortions as an integral part of organized crime, has further added to the misery of the city. For any possible solution to the problem, it is important to consider the phenomenon of the Irish mob in Boston as having its roots in the city's society itself. An external crackdown is never going to solve the problem, as there are deeper social concerns and issues that have engendered and bred it for so long. No organized crime, as we have seen, can operate at least without some degree of local support, at least in its early years. After it grows, it can then expand with relative independence. It is only by treating the Irish mob phenomenon within the theoretical formulation of the social phenomenon we call organized crime, can the root causes of its existence and growth be discovered, thereby showing us ways towards its eradication. For the time being, though, the common inhabitant of Boston continues to live under the continuous threat of violence perpetrated by Irish mob groups. Works Cited Reppetto, Thomas. Bringing Down the Mob: The War against American Mafia. Macmillan: 2007. English, T.J. Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. Regan Books: 2005. Boyer, Paul S. Urban Masses and Moral Order in America, 1820-1920. Harvard University Press. 1992. "Organized Crime - Overview". Global Oneness. 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Organized_crime_-_Overview/id/1340029 on December 14, 2008 Read More