Mafia Advent and Evolution - La Cosa Nostra - Essay Example

Advent and evolution of the Mafia- La Cosa Nostra The gang, popularly known in the United s of America as “The Mafia” and “La Cosa Nostra” is aprominent part of American culture. With the courtesy of the print media and the movies, this group of out laws has been immortalized and romanticized and made a prominent part of the American history. La Cosa Nostra is a group of people with Italian and Sicilian background who are involved in organized crime. There are twenty five La Cosa Nostra families that are spread all over America. The head quarter of the families is in New York City. The families have been involved in illegal activities which include liquor, arms and drug trafficking, prostitution, gambling, murders, usury, bribes and infiltrating legitimate businesses etc. The group works with their Italian brothers and is involved in illegal activities all over America (World Drug Report, 1998). History: The mafia originally came into existence in the medieval Italy and Sicily by peasants and families who wanted to come out of the oppression of the corrupt politicians, landlords and barons belonging to the Bourbon party. Their code was called “Omerta” which meant “manliness”. The code demanded of its followers not to cooperate with the rulers, to show self control at the time of oppression and to revenge any kind of injustice done upon the family no matter how long it takes and what the consequences are. The code was taken along with the migrant families to America and became the strength of their group (Abadiniski, 1981). While many of those who migrated towards America believed that education was a must to excel in life, the Italians believed that it was an evil from which their children must be kept at a distance. This belief gave birth to a generation of individuals whose lack of education and social status compelled some of them to adopt criminal activities in an organized manner (Abadiniski, 1981). With the rise of the industrial revolution in the 20th century greater number of people migrated from the Eastern and Southern Europe towards America. The Jews, the Irish and the Italians or Sicilians were the greatest in number. The newly settled immigrants found themselves in conflict with the white natives who felt it was their duty to preach morality, hygiene and Christianity to the settlers. There was a great social unrest during that period and the Reformers wanted to blame someone for it. They blamed the emigrants’ ethnic life style and the alcohol. This led to the rise of the Prohibition Movement and its target was the emigrants. However the emigrants responded in a way which was never visualized by the Reformers (Packenius, 2002). Prohibition: The repeal of the Volstead Act resulted in the rise of a series of the organized crime in America. Several coalitions of criminal groups were formed which increased the rate of organized crime in America. Out of these coalitions emerged a family of gangsters which eventually became the La Cosa Nostra. In 1919, after the ratification of the 18th amendment La Cosa Nostra emerged as a confederation of organized crime (Peterson, 1983). Structure of the Organization: La Cosa Nostra has its own organizational structure. The head or the boss of all bosses is the “Don” or “Capo di tutti capi”. He is the supreme head of the family. Next to him in order of superiority is the “caporigima” or the “under boss”. There are a number of under bosses who head the different families in the organization. “Consigliere” or the “councellor” or “advisor” is the person who is very close to the Don. His command is almost as powerful as that of the Don. The “soldati” are the soldiers in the family whose aim is to maintain discipline on members and non members of the family through any means which could include murder, assault or threats etc (Packenius, 2002). The major source of income for the Mafia during the Prohibition period was bootlegging. The most prominent Mafia members included Lucky Luciano, Al Capone and Bugsy who started making money through bootlegging during Prohibition. As a side business they continued running numbers and prostitution dens and made huge money out of it. Al Capone was estimated to have gross weekly income of two million dollars (Packenius, 2002). Politics: The members of La Cosa Nostra, being wealthy and influential, have a strong political backing in America. They have backed many political candidates and have helped them in winning the elections. Many have won political fame by prosecuting organized crime. Bobby Kennedy, Thomas E. Dewey, Rudolph Giuliani, Estes Kefauver are a few names to mention. Rudolph Giuliani was the most popular gangbuster of his time and ended up being the Mayor of New York. In many cases the political leaders have taken the help of the gangsters to get rig of some influential persons. As was done in 1960 when Castro had seized the American oil refineries in Cuba, the CIA hired a gangster called Sam Giancana and his fellow to kill Castro for $150,000 (Packenius, 2002). Influence over the Unions: After the advent of the Industrial revolution, a number of trade Unions such as The American Federation of Labor and the United Mine Workers were set up. During the economic depression in 1933, there was a great need for jobs. Unemployment had risen up to 25%. In such a situation the gangs manipulated with the trade unions who found it an alternate source to make money at the time of need. Many unions in New York were manipulated by the gangsters which included Two building Trade Unions, the Laborers and the Operating Engineers (Packenius, 2002). Sidney Hillman, the Labor advisor and the administrator of the National Recovery Act in the 1930s paid $350 a week out of the union money to the Luciano family due to his links with the underworld. Al Capone’s affiliate, Willie Biff took control of the International Alliance of the Theatrical Stage Employees and the Motion Picture Operators Union and reorganized them under his command (Packenius, 2002). The Mafia also took control of the transportation Unions such as the Longshoremen and the Teamsters. The truckers paid bribes to the mob to be sent first in line to pick up daily laborers and loading and unloading of goods. The situation often caused quarrels which often ended up with murders and bribes. Jimmy Hoffa was the President of the Teamsters Union in the 1950. He was put in jail on criminal charges. In 1971 he again tried to win the leadership of the Teamster Union. However, in 1974, he went missing. There was a general assumption that he was probably murdered by the Mafia who did not want him back in power. The Mafia continued to control the Labor Unions for nearly half the century (Packenius, 2002). Several companies had hired the services of various gangsters to control the unions within the companies. The most prominent one to mention is the Ford Motor Company. Ford hired the services of Harry Bennet, a mobster to fight unionism at its River Rogue Plant. Bennet stayed there till 1941 and controlled the unions with his iron fist and due to his connections with the Luciano family (Packenius, 2002). Horse racing was another area which was controlled by the Mafia during the economic depression of the 30s decade. There were many race trackers in Florida, Chicago, Kansas and other large cities that were controlled by the Mafia (Packenius, 2002). With the passage of time the Mafia continued to expand its business according to the demands of the time. From bootlegging, prostitution and gambling the Mafia moved a step forward and gave attention to Las Vegas where in 1931, the construction of Hoover Dam was bringing new life in the city. America’s dream vacation city was the idea of Bugsy Siegal who constructed the Flamingo Resort and Casino. Other resorts such as The Desert Inn and the Dune were owned by other mobsters. The Capones owned the famous Riviera and the Stardust Inn. In the process several night clubs were also formed. The Grand Terrace in Chicago was owned by Al Capone (Packenius, 2002). The mob continued its businesses by stepping into the private sector as well. In the November of 1980 the local newspapers reported that the New Jersey Toxic Waste Disposal business was being taken over by the Mafia members from the refuse industry. In the past many industries such as laundry, food market, beverages etc had also been over taken by the members of the organized crime (Packenius, 2002). Fashion World: Apart from business and politics the gangsters have also made their influence in the fashion world as well. Striped double breast suits, buttoned vests, colored ties, pins and broad shoulders were linked with the organized criminal gangsters in the 1930. The fashion designers in New York took every opportunity to promote their brand by utilizing the gangster style in their fashion industry. The gangster style has also been projected by the movies (Packenius, 2002). Gangster phraseology has also become a part of American culture. Phrases such as “F-geddaboudit,” “go to the mattresses,” and “take him for a ride,” are frequently used in the movies and have been known to the people like a house hold item (Packenius, 2002). The gangsters have influenced the people in almost all walks of life. They owe their popularity to the media who gives full attention to every action of the La Cosa Nostra members. To such an extent that the death of a gangster is important enough to occupy the front page of the newspaper. If the death is violent then the coverage is continued for several days. No group of gangsters has been given so much attention by the media as the members of La Cosa Nostra (Packenius, 2002). There have been several news paper editors and reporters who have been in close association with the underworld. Herbert Bayard Swope, William Randolph Hearst, Walter Winchell and Damon Runyon are a few names from the print media that had links with the underworld. A number of movies have been made by Hollywood in the last century related to the gangster issues. May script writers have picked up their villains from the Mafia world and have made successful movies on them. The influence of the Mafia is still felt with the popularity of gangster movies such as The Godfather and its sequel which are still aired on TV channels till this day (Packenius, 2002). The Mafia or La Cosa Nostra has been involved in a number of illegal activities till this day. There is a general assumption that probably the Mafia is responsible for the death of J.F. Kennedy and later his murderer. However the Mafia is still influential in the American society and has its roots firm in the political, social and cultural life of the American people. References Abadinsky, H. (1981), “The Mafia in America; An Oral History”.  New York:  Praeger             Publishers, pg. 9-18 Packenius, C. (2002), “La Cosa Nostra, America’s Love Affair with the Gangster”, Retrieved on March 19, 2007 from http://www.accd.edu/sac/honors/main/papers02/Packenius.htm Peterson, V. W. (1983), “The Mob: 200 Years of Organized Crime in New York”.  Ottawa, Illinois:  Green Hill Publishers, Inc. pg. 436 World Drug Report. (1998), United Nations Drug Control Programme, p. 132 Read More