The Mafia was Sicilian. Gangsters could be anyone.
“The Mafia was Sicilian. Gangsters could be anyone.”
That’s the way I always understood it, too. I’d read that even non-Sicilian Italian gangsters like Capone couldn’t have been in the actual Mafia as it existed in its early days.
Might be wrong about that, but that’s the way I’ve always heard it.
True. Guys like Lansky and Siegel could be powerful gangsters, but even their friend Luciano, boss of all bosses, could not get them into the mafia.