A Half Cup With Some Sambuca
I really do think Joe Pesci is one of the most innovative, brilliant actors of all time. His name brings images of Goodfellas to mind, although newcomers to his fame might first think of his role as Russell Bufalino in The Irishman.
Reading about Bufalino only confirms how well-done Pesci was in his role as one of the nation’s most effective, most powerful mobsters. Speaking of which, lately I’ve been enamored with the way in which power dynamics intersect in a country constituted by the rule of law. In The Life We Chose, author Matt Birkbeck details the respective journey of Bufalino (as well as Big Billy D’Elia) and in doing perfectly encapsulates how murderous criminals can be so heralded. Incidentally, the instance of discussion took place in my adopted community of Danbury, Connecticut.
But Who Was Bufalino?
Born of mysterious genesis - although certainly not in a Christ-like fashion - Bufalino’s country of origin was never hammered down. Was it Italy? America? In an attempt to get the mafia don deported, FBI agents continuously argued he was born overseas. Yet Italy rejected the attempts, keeping the mobster at bay from his ancestral homeland.
Bufalino had his hands in several pies, from fencing stolen jewelry to setting up casino operations in multiple countries. And his reach extended beyond nations, to the matters of life and death. It has long been rumored that he had an important say in the killing of everyone from Jimmy Hoffa to President Kennedy.
But alas, like all men flirting with the Devil, his rent came due. Despite skirting the law for decades, Bufalino finally got caught threatening to take the life of a man who was invoking his name to haul in a large payout on stolen diamonds. Sentenced to four years of prison time, Bufalino eventually was transferred to a facility in Danbury.
A Philanthropist?
Just as strong as his dedication to operating outside of the law as Bufalino’s allegiance to charity - which is why mafia figures loom so large in the American culture. Russell was well known for using his Italian Leagues to help those in need. Indeed, United Way often barked at Bufalino, asserting that he was being too efficient with his altruism. If you needed new tires, some eyeglasses for grandma or money for college textbooks, Bufalino would simply draw from the account and give you the cash. No applications or board approval was required.
He continued more of the same in Danbury. Even from his prison cell Bufalino was able to help those in need. Through his outside liaison, Bill D’Elia, Russell organized a Holiday event for the poorest in Danbury’s community. But this wasn’t merey a coat-drive.
First, each inmate was required to sponsor a child; a notion made more humorous after learning that Bufalino invoked The Holy Name Society to oversee the event. Next up, loads of hats, coats and gloves were donated to the children. Then pizzas and homemade chicken entrees were supplied as well. Naturally, entertainment was needed, too. An eighteen piece band was present, courtesy of Gene DeLuca.
To imagine all of this taking place amongst the roughest of inmates, those responsible for heinous crimes, makes you question the complexity of humanity, but in a delightful way. The prison warden, however, had concerns. Mixing hardscrabble street kids with the likes of felons might lead to some issues. It took some convincing from Bufalino, but the party ensued and led to one of my favorite quotes:
“The impossible we could fix right away. Miracles take a day or two.” - Russell Bufalino
But What Makes This Special?
A little over a decade prior to his imprisonment, the FBI targeted Bufalino for organizing a massive meeting between America’s mob commission. To be discussed was the future of mafia ventures, likely including casinos in Cuba as well as how to control upcoming presidential elections. When the FBI stung the operation, Bufalino simply stated that “the gathering was merely a cookout.”
When paired with his good deeds, this event epitomizes the so-called duality of man. On the one hand, Bufalino unquestionably played a part in murders and extortion. On the other, he helped an unknowable amount of struggling families find financial stability, including those poor children in Danbury. Taking some time to think about the mafia’s role in American culture is truly illuminating, and it led me to some intriguing conclusions.
It’s all about the mechanism. When the CIA deploys assassination to overthrow freely elected executives in foreign countries (see the entirety of Latin America, 1950s-2002), the press is quick to laud such acts as interventionist Liberalism. Spreading democracy to the third world, they say.
Of course, we now know that these maneuvers were done to protect American business interests, not give the gift of civil liberties. Yet when the mafia did something similar - say, encourage Fidel Castro to oust Fulgencio Batista with the aim of finding a friendlier supporter for mob-run casinos - it drew the ire and prosecutorial attention of the FBI.
Power is approved when its flows south. To be sure, Bufalino was a beloved man by most. Yes, his adversaries and those impacted by his crimes surely felt abused. But it would be historiographically untrue to deny the effects of Bufalino’s altruism. His philanthropic endeavors did as much good as other major charities, and they spanned the nation.
The reason Congress has an approval rating lower than diarrhea is because their power flows north. The American voting public may lack strong conviction, but they are not as uneducated as I once believed. We know that half of congress are millionaires, that lobbying is a term for legal bribery, and that they are beholden to big money interests in the exact same fashion mobsters are. While the unethical deeds of Bufalino have to be factored in, it is fair to observe that he may have done more good for families than their local representatives ever did. He provides services that lawmakers either did not or could not.
That being said, we cannot ignore the Whiteness of the Italian mob, all of whom descended from immigrants. Yes, Italian immigrants, as well as Irish ones, Jewish ones, etc were all met with nativist scorn. It was rather quickly, however, that their foreign status was exchanged for American heroism.
Can the same be said for Latin American immigrants? I believe not. Yes, they are being received with the same nativist scorn as European immigrants, but the two groups could not be more different.
The most reliable, perhaps only reliable academic studies on crimes committed by undocumented immigrants and legal citizens may surprise you. The right-leaning Cato Institute compiled a meta-study on the subject and wondered why “The above new research and the vast quantity of papers on how immigration doesn’t increase crime and frequently lowers it leads to an interesting question: Why do so many people think that immigration increases crime?”
There is an obvious answer I’ll let you figure out yourself. But remember, while Latin American gang operations surely exist, they are not as powerful as the American mob. Nor are they as famous, or perhaps infamous. I’ll leave you with a question: Why are European mafia figures valorized in our culture while their Latin American counterparts demonized?