African American Organized Crime: A Social History (Paperback)

~ (Author), Robert J. Kelly (Contributor) "Why study African-American organized crime?..." (more)
Key Phrases: clearing house totals, white syndicates, black organized crime, New York, African Americans, Cosa Nostra (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Comprehensive and objective, this study argues that organized crime in the United States results from the struggle to attain the elusive American Dream to achieve success at any cost by any means. The authors examine the social, economic, political, and cultural conditions that fostered growth of criminal groups and organizations in African American communities from the post--Civil War era to the ghettoes of today."--BCALA Newsletter "[Kelly and Schatzberg] are obviously two knowledgeable individuals. Their book is both perceptive and compelling. Anyone interested in this subject, whether scholar or layperson, should find this social history most useful. Highly recommended."--Reference Book Review While stories of organized crime most often dwell on groups like the Mafia and Chinese Triad or Tongs, African Americans also have a long history of organized crime. Schatzberg and Kelly trace nearly a century of African American organized crime, from numbers gambling in New York City in the 1920s to criminal groups in the ghettoes from the 1940s to the 1970s to gang activities of the present day. The authors also challenge existing stereotypes of African Americans and demostrate the importance of studying any criminal activity within its historical and social context. Rufus Schatzberg, Ph.D., a retired New York City detective first grade, is the author of Black Organized Crime in Harlem: 1920--1930. Robert J. Kelly is Broeklundian Professor of Social Science at Brooklyn College and professor of criminal justice at the Graduate School, City University of New York. He is author of Deviance, Dominance and Denigration and Organized Crime: A Global Perspective. Together, Schatzberg and Kelly edited Handbook on Organized Crime in the United States.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (March 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813524458
• ISBN-13: 978-0813524450
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,120,559 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars African American Organized Crime, January 18, 2009

By	Betty Wilson "Author of Mr. Jefferson's Piano... (New York City, NY) - See all my reviews

I was looking for a book that would give me reason to murder a main character occupying the pages of my crime novel. The murder took place in the Harlem of 1930s so I needed know what kind of murders were typical back then. Schatzberg and Kelly's history of African American organized crime answered my questions. It provided crime stats from 1900's to 1930's. Reading their book, I discovered pimping, numbers, real estate and smuggling liquor into speakeasies could be a dangerous and sometimes deadly business.

Don't think when you buy this book, you'll be reading a bunch of dry stats because you won't. The authors allowed us to peek into the world of crime. For example, I learned the Black vice industry and the Chinese vice industry of the 1920s were managed differently.

Black vice consisted of streetwalkers and pimps who settled quarrels with fights. Pimps relied on their reps as ruthless men to settle disputes. This caused an increase in the homicide rate but no gang wars. Streetwalkers and their friends often robbed their customers with some of the robberies turning into murders.

In contrast, Chinese vice relied on syndicated brothels, who resolved severe business rivalries with gang wars. Chinatowns had low homicide rates but often erupted into gang warfare but had no record of street robberies. The implication being, unorganized crime in the Black community increased the homicide rate but brought no gang wars with it; while the opposite was true in the Chinese community with the syndication of prostitution leading to gang wars but little or no petty street crime.

Schatzberg and Kelly turn their microscopes on illegal numbers next...they called it the policy racket and described how lucrative the business of betting pennies that certain numbers would come up winners could be. It made millionaires of several independent bankers and gave ex-teachers, wives of prominent community leaders and other upstanding citizens, good jobs during the 1920s when Blacks owned the policy industry.