Stereotypes are common in today’s society, mainly due to ignorance. It is this lack of knowledge that causes people to have false information about others. One frequent misconception is that all Italians are involved in organized crime. This causes the public to be afraid of, or intimidated, by Italians in America.
The media is one of the contributing factors that leads to this Italian stereotype. One of the reasons is because of the HBO show, “The Sopranos.” The show is based on an Italian man, Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini, who is the head of an organized crime family. Throughout the show, people who do him wrong get “whacked,” or murdered. Many Italian-American activist groups disapprove of the show because it contributes to this stereotype. They believe that by showing a man who lives to gamble, cheat, and kill, people will believe this to be true of all Italians. Society needs to understand that this show is no different than any Mafia movie such as The Godfather, or Goodfellas. It is meant for pure entertainment, and is not based on any real people or places. While there are bad people of every race, this is no reason to prejudge an entire nationality. It is not fair to say that all Italians are involved in the Mafia, because this is just not correct.
Another argument is that throughout history, organized crime has been led by Italians. However, people such as John Gotti have given Italians a bad reputation. By looking at the fact that some Italians may be corrupt, a judgment cannot be made about a whole population. While there are other organized crime families of different nationalities such as the Russian Mafia, or the Chinese Mafia, Italians are thought to be the prevailing ones. To say that an entire ethnic group is guilty of being involved in some way with the Mafia is completely false. That would be like saying all Asian people are smart, or all Irish people are drunks. These stereotypes are simply based on ignorance. It is this ignorance, and also false prior knowledge, that causes people to believe these stereotypes to be true.
The Essay on Mafia And Organized Crim
Mafia and Organized Crime have wreaked havoc for many years upon society in an entirety and it has definitely corrupted government in a way too. Gang leaders and such have left families broken or in dismay with family members dead, crippled, wounded, or with shattered dreams and memories that can tear a person apart mentally. Organized crime is not extended to such crime and Mafia leaders such as ...
Once again, there are terrible people of every race, and to pinpoint one specific one and say that the entire group is guilty of being in the Mafia is simply not fair, both to the people, and to the history of the nationality. Italians are hard-working people who immigrated to America in hopes of a better life for their future descendants. They should be noted of this fact, not the mistaken belief that they are all in the Mafia.
