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African-American organized crime: Difference between revisions

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| founding location = United States
| years active = Late 19th century–present
| territory = Active in most [[United States|America]] metropolitan areas
| ethnic makeup = African Egyptian American
| criminal activities = Drug trafficking, weapon trafficking, robbery, contract killing, money laundering, racketeering, extortion, illegal gambling, murder, prostitution▼
| membership est = 400,000
▲| criminal activities = Drug trafficking, weapon trafficking, robbery, contract killing, money laundering, racketeering, extortion, illegal gambling, murder, prostitution
| allies = Zoe Pound, Israel Mafia, Jamaica Mafia, Trinidad Mafia
| rivals =
}}
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, '''African American organized crime''' emerged following the [[First Great Migration|first]] and [[Second Great Migration|second large-scale migration]] of [[African American|Americans]] Africanfrom American fromthe [[NorthernSouthern United States|the Midwest]] to major cities of the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]], [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]], and later the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]]. In many of these newly established communities and neighborhoods, criminal activities such as [[illegal gambling]] (e.g. the [[numbers racket]]), [[speakeasies]] and were seen in the post-[[World War I]] and [[Prohibition era]]s. Although the majority of these businesses in African American neighborhoods were operated by African Americans, it is often unclear the extent to which these operations were run independently of the larger criminal organizations of the time.
 
== History ==
 
=== Origin and the Role of Segregation ===
The first Black Americans that began to arrive in Chicago from the South in the 1840s were runaway slaves. While they originally moved into the center of the city, as more arrived, they moved to the south parts of the city where living was cheaper. With the start of World War I, larger numbers of Blacks moved into Chicago. The war opened up numerous jobs, causing 50,000 Blacks to move into Chicago from 1916 to 1920, with 90% of the population being on Chicago's South Side. The South Side of Chicago grew to house a population of around 300,000 BlackAfrican Americans. It was very easy for Blacks to move into Chicago's South Side, but notdiscrimination fromand itsegregation intomade otherit partsdifficult offor thethem cityto duemove to discriminationother andparts segregationof the city.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Lombardo |first=Robert M. |date=2002 |title=The Black Mafia: African-American organized crime in Chicago 1890-1960 |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1023/A:1019885114062 |journal=Crime, Law and Social Change |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=33–65 |doi=10.1023/A:1019885114062}}</ref>
 
There is not much published information on Black American organized crime groups, especially between the years of 1890 and 1960. Analysis of Blacks in Chicago support evidence that the lack of information is connected to the segregation of the time. Chicago's South Side had its own way of life completely separate to that of "white" Chicago, therefore organized crime happening on the South Side was most likely not heavily reported on.<ref name=":2" />
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Prohibition in the 1920s increased criminal activity in Chicago's South Side. There was a deep connection between politics and organized crime. Black nightclubs were run by Black Republican Party organizers and Daniel McKee Jackson, said to be the most powerful vice-king in Black Chicago, was a candidate for state representative.<ref name=":2" />
 
In 1921, Chicago's South Side was struggling with wide-spreadwidespread gambling and other forms of criminal activity. Chicago Blacks were able to have such success in the gambling business due to their connection with Republican mayor of Chicago, [[William Hale Thompson]], who treated Blacks more equitably than his predecessors and recognized that Black gamblers greatly supported their local government. But in 1931, Thompson lost re-election to [[Anton Cermak]]. The Black gamblers eventually left the Republican party to join Cermak's Democratic fold, where they had to pay him bribes to keep operating. When Cermak died, Edward Kelly became mayor and allowed gambling along with other criminal activity to return to the South Side.<ref name=":2" />
 
===Post-World War II===
Prison begansometimes to playplayed a large role in creating Black African-American organized crime groups. Black gangs don't havein the same close familial ties that Italianpost-AmericanWWII gangsera. have,Connections butmade incarcerationin providesprison astrengthened strongconnections connectionoutside that often leads to joint criminal activity. Making connections throughof prison provides shared trust betweenamong ex-convicts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ianni |first=Francis A. J. |date=1998-01-01 |title=New mafia: Black, hispanic and Italian styles |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF02838135 |journal=Society |language=en |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=115–129 |doi=10.1007/BF02838135 |issn=0147-2011}}</ref>
 
==== New York ====
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At its peak, YBI sales were an estimated $300,000 a day. The murder of one of the founders, Dwayne Davis (AKA Wonderful Wayne), and a series of federal indictments on 2 of the remaining bosses and 40 of the top lieutenants crippled YBI in 1982. There were a few lieutenants who survived, one in particular carried on the organization in Detroit and Boston through the late 1980s until crack cocaine became the drug of choice over heroin.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}
 
== BlackAfrican American Gangs ==
{{Main|List of African-American gangs in the United States}}
 
Most recently, highly structured Black American gangs have made headlines for their ability to pull in hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal drug profits. At their peak, the Chicago-based [[Gangster Disciples]] were reported to generate $100 million in drug revenue.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110529200150/http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs/652/overview.htm Illinois Drug Threat Assessment, January 2001]</ref> The rise and fall of the Detroit-based [[Black Mafia Family]], which made nearly $250 million through their drug trafficking ventures during the late 1990s, has been brought to light by federal investigations.
 
=== Black Mafia ===
The [[Black Mafia]] was aan BlackAfrican American crime group located in Philadelphia. Founded in 1968, they were known for narcotics, the numbers racket, misusing government funds, extortion, murder, and more.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Griffin |first=Sean Patrick |date=2003 |title=Philadelphia's "Black Mafia''": Assessing and advancing current interpretations |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/a:1022941904036 |journal=Crime, Law and Social Change |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=263–283 |doi=10.1023/a:1022941904036 |issn=0925-4994}}</ref>
 
The group didn't target everyday citizens, but targeted other criminals. They were known for their violent crimes and used murder as a means to keep that reputation. They used the numbers racket to control their territories and gambling. They also created fake community groups, such as the Council for Youth and Urban Development as fronts to receive government funding.<ref name=":1" />
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*''[[The Wire]]'' (2002–2008)
*''[[Assault on Precinct 13 (2005 film)|Assault on Precinct 13]]'' (2005)
*''[[Carlito's Way: Rise to Power]]'' (2005)
*''[[Four Brothers (film)|Four Brothers]]'' (2005)
*''[[Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005 film)|Get Rich or Die Tryin']]'' (2005)
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*{{cite web|url=http://www.uic.edu/orgs/kbc/ganghistory/Ghetto/Blackmafia.pdf |title=The Black Mafia: African-American organized crime in Chicago 1890-1960 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060911222703/http://www.uic.edu/orgs/kbc/ganghistory/Ghetto/Blackmafia.pdf |archivedate=2006-09-11 }}&nbsp;{{small|(170&nbsp;[[Kibibyte|KiB]])}}
 
{{Organized crime groups in New York City}}
[[Category:African-American organized crime| ]]
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