Organized crime committed by street gangs in general is not as diversified as the pie the Mafia's got their fingers in, but saying a criminal active in a street gang as a rule is nothing more than a petty thief is not quite fair. There's plenty that make a ton of money in the drug trade and in their respective areas they have plenty of sophisticated money laundering operations. As an organization the reach of street gangs doesn't go as far as the mob's, but there are quite a few criminals active in street gangs that are smarter and more talented at being gangsters than quite a few brokester mobsters are.

For instance, in Montreal the mafia has plenty of black associates and they're respected.