Mafia is defined as “a hierarchically structured secret organization allegedly engaged in smuggling, racketeering, trafficking in narcotics, and other criminal activities in the U.S., Italy, and elsewhere” often times referred to as Cosa Nostra. These secret organizations, originating in many parts of Sicily and southern Italy, are often seen to be predominantly comprised of Italian Americans and immigrants. My topic is to shed light on racial diversity among the mafia at the beginning of the 20th century. We start to see a connection among criminals from different racial backgrounds. I chose to look at two films that touch on race in relation to organized crime, Mobsters and Goodfellas. In the movie Mobsters, it talks about four young men from New York, Charlie  “Lucky” Luciano, Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky, and Benny “Bugsy” Segal they began their careers with petty crimes to eventually working their way to becoming top guys in the crime business. What makes this a unique collection of characters is that two men were not of Italian descent; Segal and Lansky were of Jewish ancestry. These four men among others developed the National Crime Syndicate in the states; this became a partnership for gangsters of both Italian and Jewish descent to bootleg. This became a quite progressive idea for criminals and extinguished the concept of only Italian mafia associates. New York in the 1920's was a hotspot for criminal activity; around this time the five crime families of New York were making a profit in bootlegging and racketeering.