When I was in Rome this past semester, I had to take a short, weekend-long course to Sicily in order to learn all about the Italian mafia. As most people know, the mafia is an organized crime network that operates both in Italy and around the entire world. It is composed of various “families” that control different cities and regions. In the case of this class, we were examining the Cosa Nostra Sicilian mafia, the most dangerous and notorious mafia family. This mafia family used to exert significant control over not only the region, but the entire country. They embedded themselves into all ways of life, political and non-political, in order to maintain the success of their businesses. While nowadays they are no longer as powerful and prominent, they still hold ties to local and national governments, and are an important aspect of historical and modern Italian culture. During our class, we visited the site of a civilian massacre perpetrated by the mafia, toured multiple museums and sites with ties to the mafia and anti-mafia movement, and listened to various speakers with deep knowledge and experience with the mafia. I felt that by the end of the weekend, I had gained a great understanding of the true spread and horrors of the mafia, and how they are still very much relevant to present Italian life.
Taking this class, I believe, was a massively important thing for me to have done in order to gain deeper knowledge of Italian history and culture. As Americans, we have a very romanticized perception of the mafia, and we do not take it seriously that they are a brutal and evil crime organization lacking all moral and only interested in their self. There is no honor or values with the mafia, and no one, not even children, are safe from them. Im not afraid to admit that I held this naive view as well, but thanks to this class, that is certainly not the case anymore. Learning about the mafia in such an up-close and personal way really helped to drill it in just how awful they were and are, and it was not the easiest thing to do either. It could be truly haunting and heartbreaking at times, but it is necessary to be given the cold hard truth in order to best understand the mafia. I am very grateful that I was given this opportunity to take this class and learn so much about the mafia so that I no longer have a warped view on them.
If I was to look at this experience as an Italian person, I think that I would be very appreciative and thankful that I was able to take this class and get this new understanding of the mafia. Italian citizens know all to well how horrible the mafia is, and I’m sure are aware that it is romanticized in other countries, so to have an ignorant American suddenly have a much better understanding of this crime group must be relieving to some extent. The only way to continue combatting the mafia and driving them further and further out of Italy and the rest of the world is through awareness of the organization. With every person properly educated about the mafia, they lose just a bit of cultural power and any possible sympathy, and everyone must eventually be against them so that adequate anti-mafia efforts are successful.
If it wasn’t clear already, this class was monumental in deepening my understanding of Italian culture. When learning about and living in a foreign country, you cannot just learn and experience all the good things. No country is safe from corruption and evil, and it is necessary to have proper exposure to the bad parts as well. This not only allows for one to have a more well-rounded view of the culture, but also gives you an insight into the hardships that the people have faced so that you can understand why the country is currently the way it is. From this point, if I am ever to live in another country for a more extended period of time, I want to make sure that I learn about even the more unsavory aspects, as I know that will make me more appreciative for what the country is like now and help me empathize with the locals on a deeper and more personal level.