“Old soldiers never die, they just fade away,” General Douglas MacArthur famously noted in a speech to the U.S. Congress on April 19th, 1951. This dictum certainly isn’t true for old Italian gangsters, particularly Al Capone. News items about them are as perennial as snow in Chicago.
One of Big Al’s granddaughters in California made recent headlines by holding an auction of many of his personal items, from old photographs to one of his favorite guns. Every media news outlet, both television and newspapers, gave it ample play. And when the media does such things, what is the ultimate effect? Once again, it engages in myth-making, not reportage. Capone was a thug and a psychopath, not Jay Gatsby. The only thing that distinguished him from other psychopaths was his love of the limelight. His passion for media coverage was as strong as his lust for quick cash.
And the ultimate victims of this Media/Capone Axis? Italian Americans, both then and now. The media’s fascination with Capone continues to obscure the truly important figures in our history, such as Bank of America founder A.P. Giannini. And omission is just as prejudicial as constant over-kill.
But, wait, as usual: there’s more!
Last week, I finally had the chance to visit the Volo Car Museum in Volo, IL. It’s a fascinating place and frequent host to visiting high school students and tourists. The museum showcases everything from classic cars to Hollywood vehicles, with a few other historical exhibits on the side. One of those exhibits is the “Crime and Punishment” museum, featuring infamous criminals in American history. Naturally, Capone is featured, along with John Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde. But the huge caption below his photos erroneously calls him “the head of all organized crime in America during the 1920s (!).”
Who knew Scarface had as much influence as the president of the United States?
The exhibit also shows a large photo of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, and identifies the dead bodies on the garage floor as “Al Capone’s men.” Um, no. Those were Bugs Moran’s men, allegedly killed by Capone’s. (BTW: To this day, no still knows who committed this atrocity.)
My point is that, between such blatant boners and endless newspaper hype, a balanced historical view of Capone is well-nigh impossible. But, we can try.
I did so by writing this letter to the Chicago Tribune after its absurd, full-length piece about his auction. To my surprise, they printed it. Enjoy. -BDC
Nostalgia for Capone? (published August 30, 2021, Chicago Tribune)
The sale of Chicago gangster Al Capone’s personal items is certainly newsworthy — but worthy of a lengthy profile as your “Own Capone” report, complete with photos?
It mirrors the same hyperbolic coverage that journalists indulged in during that period of U.S. history.
This continuing conflation of a local thug into the “King of Chicago” obscures many facts about Capone. He wasn’t from the Windy City, and considered himself as American as apple pie (“I ain’t Italian. I’m from Brooklyn!”). He was mentored by criminals already well-established in Chicago, such as his right-hand man Jake “Greasy Thumb” Guzik. His so-called power was allowed to flourish because, as historian Giovanni Schiavo once noted, “Capone didn’t corrupt anyone who didn’t want to be corrupted.”
Capone’s reign as a criminal leader in Chicago lasted only five years. The late professor Mark Haller of Temple University in Philadelphia called Capone “one of the most overrated gangsters in American history.”
When violent crime is currently tearing our city apart, why is Capone, who engaged in the same activities, treated as a nostalgic figure?
Bill Dal Cerro, senior analyst, Italic Institute of America, Chicago
Agree, and for many of us this is a tiring subject, but somehow as Italian Americans, our rejection of this element is key to raising some level of consciousness. It is particularly galling when 4th and 5th generation partial Italian Americans think this sort of stuff is part of heritage….too much media overload! The real heroes for me are the many Italians and Italian Americans who are rejecting this stereotype along with attempting to confront criminal gangs, whether it is in the USA, Italy, or even Mexico.
As for myth-making, I have long contended, the mafia stuff tells more about mainstream American life and its fascination for that sort of news than it does about Italian American life. What baffles me is “why it is so?” Is it a need for a Robin Hood or Jesse James or Al Capone anti-hero in their lifes? What is the role these anti-heroes play in American society? That would be a more fascinating story than Al Capone memorabilia!
That’s why I included Capone’s own phrase: “I ain’t Italian. I’m from Brooklyn!” In his own crude way, he was noting the uniquely American aspect of all of this. Much of it probably is tied into the Wild West mentality. Another part may be America’s fascination with the “under-dog,” or our penchant for wanting to take things into our own hands (a la Capone).
Certainly, historical amnesia is part of it: a) Organized crime existed in Chicago before Capone or the Italians arrived, yet the media always uses the 1920s as the “start date”; and, similarly, b) criminals of different ethnicities during Capone’s time are ignored or elided, thus making it seem as if Italians were the ones who imported organized crime.
The times we live in will go down in history as 21st Dark Ages. It is just insane on what
is going on.
We need a new Rinascimento!
The Italic Institute has been trying to jump-start one for decades. We have the template.
HERALDO RIVERA BUILT AN ENTIRE CAREER ON ‘DISCOVERING’ THAT CAPONE’S VAULT WAS EMPTY! a.spadoni
Sure did. I think of that every time I see Geraldo on TV. I recall watching that 1986 “special event” when it first aired, along with the rest of the country.
And what, finally, did Geraldo find? An empty beer bottle. Talk about symbolic.
That should have deflated the Capone myth right then and there. Nope!
The Capone’s vault special event is not the only “pagliacciata” carried on by Geraldo. He went to Sicily in the early nineties and wore a bullet proof vest.
Has he ever done a live special from Tijuana, Medellin or San Juan wearing a bullet proof vest?
I know he wrote a book “His-Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics” suggesting that we should not be concerned about Hispanic criminals. Only Italian criminals, I guess.
Points well-taken.
Hollywood is to blame for many of the fables about Italians and Italian Americans. I’m a senior citizen and I remember many movies, starring Edward G. Robinson, where he was the prime ITALIAN thief, etc. If Italians weren’t shown as gangsters, they were shown as half wit store keepers with a load of noisy kids. If only they had consulted what we poor kids didn’t have, the encyclopedia, they would have seen many great scientists, inventors, etc. Viva L’Italia Viva L’America.
Edward G. Robinson (non-Italian) made a career out of playing Italian criminals. And Paul Muni (another non-Italian) created the cinematic template for “crude Italian thug” with his portrayal of Tony Camonte in the original “Scarface,” an image on auto-pilot for 80 years.