Asklemmy

I have never seen an Italian in real life and I don’t hold any prejudices against or for them.

Some of us can be admired at several zoos all over the world

Reminder that House started in 2004, 19 years ago.

Im not an expert but I dont really think that the stereotype still holds up, like in a "A pizza restaurant in NY?, definetly a front for the Mafia" or knowing an Italian and immediately thinking they're mobsters.

The great families in the US had a huge downfall starting at the 70s, and by the 90s they were no longer the big classical Mafia families.

Some of them crashed because of internal struggle, others by the preassure of their greed, and others just went legal.

Also the gov cracked down hard on racketeering and mobster activity.

The Mafia concept has evolved and they moved to other types of illegal activity.

But I think that most people when they think about Italian mobsters, they think about the Godfather, Al Capone, and the golden age of the prohibition and the 50s.

What do you mean "still true?" The stereotype was never true.

There were Italian mobsters. There were also Irish mobsters, Jewish mobsters... There were mobsters of just about every major immigrant group in the US, especially if they were marginalized. Organized crime allowed these communities to not only build an economy of their own, but police themselves when they didn't trust the police.

The stereotype doesn't come from the fact that Italian mobsters existed, it comes from their portrayal in the media. The Godfather was popular, Al Capone was famous, so people got into it and made a ton of movies about Italian mobsters. That's all.

I'm originally from a small town outside of Naples, Italy and I had just arrived in New York City last year. I was hoping to find work as a cook or chef since I had trained in some of the best kitchens back home. The day after I arrived, I received a mysterious letter stamped with a seal that looked like a cross on my apartment door. It summoned me to appear at a restaurant downtown called "Tony's" at 7pm sharp.

That evening, I put on my best suit and headed to the address. The restaurant was in a dingy part of the city I didn't recognize. I walked inside the dark interior and was greeted by a hostess who led me silently to a back room. There I found two men dressed in fine Italian suits sitting at a table covered in plates of pasta, pizza, antipasto, and glasses of wine. However, they didn't offer me anything to eat or drink.

The men began to ask me strange questions in Italian. First, the older one in the pinstriped suit asked if I had any boating experience and could operate a motorboat at night. When I said no, the younger one in the track suit asked my views on wearing "concrete galoshes" and whether I knew how to swim in them. They also asked when my favorite holiday was and seemed very interested when I answered Valentine's Day.

I was utterly confused by their line of questioning and asked them to explain what this meeting was about. The older man slammed his fist on the table and told me I clearly was not a good fit for the "Columbus Club." Before I could respond, they ushered me out of the restaurant. I still have no idea what they wanted from me or what that mysterious club was. But I decided it was best not to pursue it any further.

I live in the Northeast US. The Italian mafia still exists but it is not near what it used to be. The FBI/DOJ has been very successful in investigating and prosecuting members of the mob with laws we have called RICO. Basically RICO laws allow all members of a criminal organization to be charged for the actions of other members of the the organization. This helps prevent the boss and the other higher ups from insulating themselves from the crimes through intermediaries and soldiers that are willing to do prison time without “ratting” on anyone else in the org.

In the US, the mafia still exists, but as corporations, not families, since a lot of their old crimes of choice are legal now. Sports gambling, marijuana, human trafficking disguised as porn, etc.

It is actually a minor theme in The Sopranos about the role of the Italian Mafia today.

Basically, the Mafia grew up in poor immigrant communities where the immigrants suffered some mild racism. Over time, the immigrants became integrated into American society. There are some stereotypical Italian-American industries like hospitality and construction, but it isn't out of place to see successful and educated Italian-Americans in all fields.

After the RICO trials gutted the Mafia, what was left didn't have power they used to have and a lot of the smarter Italian-Americans could go into legal careers. This has caused a really bad brain drain for the Mafia, making it less effective and powerful.

There is still a Mafia around, but it is a shadow of its former self.

Like many other things, it really depends on the community and whatnot. For instance, I was building a power plant in Pennsylvania, and rented an apartment in Old Forge; I lived directly across the street from where they held the annual Italian heritage festival, and about a block from a very locally famous cafe. Outside this cafe sat a Buick with a custom license plate that said "MAFIA"

There were also signs everywhere around town that said something along the lines of "Soandso has been missing for an amount of time and SOMEONE IN THIS TOWN KNOWS WHERE HE IS"

I also shoveled the older lady who lived next door's sidewalk and porch the first time it snowed while I was there; she said she was gonna tell her son what I did, and then I never had to shovel another sidewalk for the next two years. Mine or elseways.

So that could be something.

It's less that the stereotype isn't true and more that it applies to everybody. American stereotypes are widely based on racist enforcement of laws. Obviously there are italian crime families, but there are white crime families like the Sacklers that do far worse shit, but we don't stereotype white people as criminal masterminds. Italians are considered white in America now though, so they have less stereotypes attached to them.

If America was less racist, you wouldn't hear about country of origin in crime. I've had people of all races sell me cocaine out of the back of the sketchy restaurant.