The Italians have long been way more heavily targeted by the FBI and Hollywood and the media. The police in cities tend to focus more on street gangs. I come form a small town where I was taught to be suspicious of all Italians being in the mafia. The big cities are different, as I have learned. Not very different in that regard, but less so.
Goodfellas was directed by Scorsese. The Godfather was directed by Coppola. The Sopranos was created by Chase (DeCesare). All Italian Americans. A lot of the same actors are in all the mob related movies and TV shows, look at their IMDB profiles and you will see they are rarely in anything else. Yes, they are pigeonholed. But is it Hollywood, or these same actors, who propagate the myth that all Italians are mobbed up? If they felt strongly about it, don't select those roles. A lot of the best actors are Italian American (De Niro, Pacino, Brando); acting in mafia related movies at the start of their careers never harmed them.
As for the FBI, I don't know if I agree with that. The reason why the mafia became so strong, and the reason why the Feds cracked down on the mafia in the 80's, is because they were allowed to become strong because, for whatever reason, J. Edgar Hoover didn't pursue them and allowed them free rein.
