Originally Posted by NYMafia
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What WAS accomplished by Luciano was that after the Castellammarese War the door were swung open for ALL Southern Italians to join up with the previous Sicilians-only Mafia families. Calabrians, Neopolitans, Puglians, etc., were now candidates for induction. This "blending" in America of three separate organizations; the Camorra, (Society Onorato) N'drangheta, and Mafia, formed the overarching "Cosa Nostra" (translated to "Our Thing") that we know of today.

I'm glad you raised that point because, IMO, Luciano's great contribution to the American Mafia was to get the Dons and their families thinking like businessmen rather than glorified gabellotti. This was America--not rural Sicily, Part of it, as you say, was to recruit and reward talent from outside Sicily, Some non-Sicilians were included in families before the Castellemmarese War (Genovese, Costello, Anastasia). But Luciano--born in Sicily but a thoroughly modern American businessman--gave his blessing to it through the Commission. He even had non-Italians like Lansky and Siegel sit with the Commission as advisers and business partners.


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