Italian American

crime really started up. What caused this uprising in organized crime was prohibition; the ban on production, transportation, selling, and consumption of alcohol (unless for religious purposes). To counter this, mobs such as the Russian Mafia and the Italian Mafia took over the criminal scene with organized crime. It was like regular crime, just this time not as random and more orderly. The mobs saw potential in the situation with prohibition and took advantage of it by taking over production,…

While starting to read the materials for the course the very first sentences grabbed my attention. “The United States is a nation where people are supposed to be able to rise above their origins. Those who want to succeed, it is believed, can do so through hard work and solid effort.” (Collins, Anderson. 2015) This was actually disturbing for me to read because it so far from the truth. We live in a society that has chosen to not change their views and ways of thinking about race. This system…

values are social, political, religious, work and moral. (Duffy, n.d) In African-American culture religion is the foundation of many families. This is a cultural and familial value that has been passed down for generations. African-American’s suffered from slavery and oppression for many years and the only motivation or hope that was given to us was through religion. For example, the first influences of African-American Culture into hymns came from Slave Songs and were passed down through oral…

into his writing. His writing intrigues me in the fact that he has such an abrupt writing style, but it was also simplistic. Many experiences that Hemingway went through in his life was evident in aspects of his writing. Hemingway was a patriarch of American Literature. He was awarded for being a war hero and later he received awards for his writing. Eventually his alcoholism and love of different women became too much for him to deal with and he took his own life. Hemingway was born in Oak…

Power of an Illusion Mae Ngai a historian describes how the United States historically has always been highly racialized. Since the industrialization period immigrants were viewed as lazy and even stupid, american society even separated whites into different categories Europeans like the Italians, Slavs, and Jews were seen as lower class whites. These white newcomers were forced into low paying jobs and slums, while Mexicans, Blacks, and Chinese were labeled as “inferior races’. Biology…

Five Points is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan notoriously known for its gangs, crime, and poverty. This neighborhood was mostly recognized as an Irish neighborhood in the mid-1800s. The reputation of the Irish was that they were criminal by nature, and the horrible conditions of the Five Points helped affirm that reputation. Initially a reservoir in the 1700s, Collect Pond was located just north of today’s City Hall. This pond was the root of spring water for Dutch inhabitants of downtown…

Castillo, former director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and himself the grandson of Mexican immigrants, points out, “The old neighborhood Ma-Pa stores are still around. They are not Italian or Jewish or Eastern European any more. Ma and Pa are now Korean, Vietnamese, Iraqi, Jordanian, Latin American…”…

They exploited the workers as to enhance the competitiveness of the company. These fundamental contradictions led to the frequent processions and movements. In 1886, a strike broke out in Chicago as the workers strive for the eight working hours per day. The dispute later turned into a violent confrontation where some explosions and gunshots occurred. It was believed a home-made metal bomb was ignited by a protestant and threw against the police. This incident led to the death of seven policemen…

bootlegging, along with prostitution and gambling. For years, a large portion of the people of Chicago, and even around the country, were complacent with gangsters like Capone. Many of them benefitted from the bootlegging, as a significant portion of Americans tried to drink when they could. Because of this, they tolerated criminality to a certain extent, largely until the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. While Al Capone had been investigated for multiple crimes, none had any evidence so far, and…

you can’t be the head of the Gambino Family without being Italian, and you can’t be a Mexican illegal alien without being a Mexican.” Yes, the argument is an ongoing debate, but usually these are the people associated with the associated crimes. Grouping certain people with specific crimes is the way our society works. Moreover, a person can even look at it from an educational viewpoint. Are all brown people doctors, do all African Americans play sports? There is an upside and a downside to…