NCJ Number
46607
Date Published
1977
Length
279 pages
Annotation
A TRADITIONALLY SPANISH, AND LATER ITALIAN, MANIFESTATION OF GANG-LIKE CRIMINALITY IS EXAMINED IN LIGHT OF ITS RESURGENCE IN NEW YORK CITY AT THE TURN OF THE 19TH CENTURY.
Abstract
THE TERM, AND THE SKETCHED SYMBOL OF A BLACK HAND, SEEM TO HAVE ORIGINATED IN SPAIN AS A TERROR TACTIC ADOPTED BY AN ALLEGED ANARCHIST SOCIETY. THE SOCIETY WAS BROKEN UP IN 1882, AND THE TACTIC WAS SOON ADOPTED BY AN ITALIAN CRIMINAL ELEMENT FLOURISHING IN SOUTHERN EUROPE. FOLLOWING A 1903 EXTORTION CASE THAT RESULTED IN THE CONVICTION OF A GROUP OF ITALIANS OPERATING UNDER THE NOM DE GUERRE OF THE BLACK HAND, ALMOST EVERY CRIME OF VIOLENCE IN ITALIAN NEIGHBORHOODS IN NEW YORK, CHICAGO, AND OTHER CITIES WAS DRAMATIZED AS THE WORK OF A MASSIVE AND MYSTERIOUS NETWORK OF ORGANIZED CRIMINALS -- THE BLACK HAND. ITS USE SPREAD RAPIDLY TO THE MINING TOWNS OF PENSYLVANIA AND OTHER STATES, TO LABOR CAMPS IN UPATATE NEW YORK, AND TO MOST COMMUNITIES WHERE ITALIANS HAD IMIGRATED IN SUBSTANTIAL NUMBERS. AMERICAN POLICE, WHO WERE OFTEN IRISH IMMIGRANTS, FOUND ITALIAN CRIME DIFFICULT TO COMBAT. THE EFFORTS OF ITALIAN-BORN POLICE, ALTHOUGH MORE EFFECTIVE, EXPERIENCED SEVERAL ADVANCES AND SETBACKS IN CURBING THE ACTIVITIES OF THE BLACK HAND. AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, THE GROWING BELIEF AMONG AMERICANS WAS THAT ITALIANS, ESPECIALLY SOUTHERN ITALIANS, WERE A PARTICULARLY CRIMINAL RACE; THIS BELIEF WAS EVENTUALLY TRANSLATED INTO LAW IN THE FORM OF QUOTA PROVISIONS WRITTEN INTO IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS. THE ORIGINS OF THE BLACK HAND PHENOMENON AND THE SCOPE OF ITS AMERICAN MANIFESTATION ARE EXAMINED. THE POLICE ROLE IN THE CONTROL OF THE SPREAD OF THE BLACK HAND IS DISCUSSED; ADVANCES AND FAILURES OF THE POLICE MISSION ARE DOCUMENTED. THE EXTENT OF THE BLACK HAND'S CONTROL OF NEW YORK'S ITALIAN NEIGHBORHOODS AND OF THE CITY'S COMPLEX FABRIC OF VICE AND VARIOUS OTHER CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES ARE EXAMINED. THE EVOLUTION AND DECLINE OF THE BLACK HAND SYMBOL ( A HIGHLY VISIBLE AND OFTEN MISAPPLIED SIGNPOST OF ITALIAN CRIMINALITY) INTO A MUCH MORE COVERT AND CENTRALLY CONTROLLED FORM OF ORGANIZED CRIME -- THE MAFIA -- IS ALSO DISCUSSED. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. PHOTOGRAPHS OF PROMINENT POLICE FIGURES OF THE ERA ARE REPRODUCED. AN INDEX IS INCLUDED. (KBL)