Also, you gotta understand;
People jumped down his throat because of what he said and how he said it.
He said BLACKS CRIMINALS DONT HAVE THE INTELLIGENCE TO DO WHAT THE ITALIANS DID.
Now what is that? Form a hierarchy? Impose rules and order? Run businesses, form connections with politicians? Guys like BlackFam can provide examples of all that, so what do you REALLY MEAN?
Irish criminals were every bit as smart as the Italians, they never formed a national syndicate, no one will say they were too dumb to do it. Same with the Jewish gangsters. The Mexicans and Colombians made away more money, but the money doesn't necessarily translate to power, why? Cause the money you give to a politician has to be, "kinda" beyond reproach right? I mean it has to at least LOOK A LITTLE CLEAN, how do you just throw drug money at a politician in today's day and age? With Rico and all that, it isn't Canada.
You guys make these dudes seem like SUPER CRIMINALS because they are Italian, when really they got big cause of prohibition, the depression, and a myopic FBI. Couple this with the labor unions, (and some like the Teamsters have had discriminating policies as far as minorities, so how could they get power there?) These are the things that made the mob, the MOB.
You look at that post I put up Ivey, if they woulda left the GDs alone for a little while longer, they woulda been a problem in Chicago and all over.
Direct evidence? Well when the black gangsters went and got their own supply, that's when they came up. When guys like Nicky Barnes established an absence of competition in the biggest markets, that's when their power and negotiating leverage goes up tremendously.
It's like, what the fuck you expect, blacks to be controlling labor unions during Jim Crow era America? It has nothing to do with intelligence like what the fuck?
Look at it this way, name the guy in the mob during the Matthews era, that was as big or bigger.... Seriously, who?
The pizza connection got cooking in the late 70s 80s?
Would you name Pasquale Conte? Casso and Amuso? The Bonnano Sicilian wing? Frank Matthews had 22 states Ivey, don't just focus on NY. Even Barnes, I mean Harlem was ALWAYS the most lucrative territory in NY right?
Who would have been as big or bigger? Right after THE MAFIA DRUG RING got taken down ( the genovese -ormento group)...
I agree that several factors fell into place at the right time that enabled the mob to become what it was. But it was able to take full advantage of those factors because of the self-perpetuating criminal tradition the Italians had. Otherwise they would have gone the way of the Irish and Jewish mobs.
Sure, establishing ones own supply for drugs is going to improve their position. Did they surpass any given family in the drug trade? Perhaps. But not the entire NY mob - especially if we're talking about overall power and not just position in the drug trade. And thats what the original post seemed to ask. And none of these guys had the kind of diversified criminal base any of the NY families had. A big reason they're all long gone while the Italian mob remains.
