American variety show: The Godfather, the Peace Ambassador, what the heck?

Chapter 159 Hoffa's Speech

Hofa took a deep breath, pushed aside the two people arguing in front of him, and strode up to the podium in the center of the hall. He slammed his hand on the table, drawing everyone's attention.

"Shut up, everyone!"

He held the microphone, his voice carrying an undeniable power, his gaze sweeping across every angry, anxious, or bewildered face in the room like a searchlight.

Look at the state of you all now!

When Hoffa's temper flared up, he roared, "The gasoline was stolen by those gangsters hiding in the shadows, sucking the blood and sweat of us workers! They didn't just steal the tanker trucks, they stole all of our jobs! They stole the safety of you out-of-town drivers! They stole the money from the gas station owners' pockets! They stole the treatment that local drivers deserve! They stole the dignity of the entire Detroit working class!"

He paused for a moment, letting the word "gangster" be like a label stuck to everyone's ears.

To unite the forces of various parties and resolve internal conflicts, it is necessary to establish a common, hateful, and distinct external enemy to divert everyone's hatred. Only in this way can everyone be united and work together against a common enemy.

This is Hoffa's usual tactic, and it always works.

However, the "imaginary enemy" he previously identified was the US government and those greedy capitalists who persecuted workers.

This time it was gangsters who committed robbery.

To avoid inciting racial conflict, Hoffa only emphasized gangs without deliberately adding the word "Black" before it.

"Now! Look at what you're doing!"

Hofa slammed his fist on the table. "You guys from out of town!"

He pointed at the group of out-of-town drivers from the East Coast, "You think it's the local brothers stabbing you in the back? Ridiculous! Don't be ridiculous! What is the union for? The union is the workers' home! The union protects your safety, so you can deliver gasoline to the station with peace of mind and earn money to take home!"
We belong to the International Brotherhood of Truck Drivers. No matter where you come from, no matter which city's union you belong to, as long as we stand together and wear the fraternity's badge, we are brothers!

Hofa's prestige remains. Even after years in prison and with many new faces joining the union, he is still a highly respected "chairman" in his hometown.

His words calmed many people down. Everyone looked at Hoffa with anticipation, hoping he could come up with a solution, just like he did back then, and lead his brothers through the difficulties together.

Hoffa raised his fist: "Someone's threatening your safety? Fine! Tell me their name, tell me their location! The brothers in the union aren't pushovers! We'll show those scum who dare touch our brothers, dare touch our trucks, that the streets of Detroit aren't a place for them to run wild!"
The union's protective umbrella will shield every driver who works for the union and abides by its rules, regardless of whether you're from the East Coast or the West Coast!

Hoffa's sharp gaze then shifted to the group of gas station owners and white business owners, his voice both gentle and firm:
"Bosses, I understand how you feel. You prepaid and now the gasoline is gone, resulting in huge losses. I also know that those customers are about to leave!"
But who's to blame? Blame the gangs that stole the oil! Blame the criminals who disrupted order! Will your complaints to each other, to the unions, make the oil fall from the sky? Will they bring back the stolen oil? No!

Hoffa then changed the subject, “The only solution is to get the gasoline back, clear the path to wealth, and drive away those who are robbing us!”

I, Jimmy Hoffa, can assure you that I will get tankers back in Detroit! Not just the West Side, but the East Side too! Everywhere along the 8 miles north and south!
We must unite and make those gangsters who dare to steal gasoline pay ten times, a hundred times the price!

The union will safeguard your rights, and we can sign a more favorable treaty!
But the condition is that you have to support the union's actions and support me! Don't fucking fight among yourselves!
Your customers are also the family and friends of our union brothers! Protecting your business is protecting the jobs and family lives of our workers! On this matter, the union and you are completely aligned!

Hoffa continued to shift blame, attributing the plight of the group of bosses entirely to the gang, and hinting at compensation rights in an attempt to tie the interests of the bosses and workers together.

The group of bosses only cared about money, and considering Hoffa's past glorious achievements, no one voiced their opposition.

That's the default.

Perhaps Hoffa does indeed have the ability to solve it.

Finally, Hofa looked at the restless, envious, and xenophobic local drivers:
"And you, my union brothers! You want higher wages? Better benefits? That's a fucking right, that's what I used to lead you guys in doing!"

But you're targeting our fellow out-of-towners who also make a living behind the wheel? Fools! Who are our common enemies? They are those gangsters who live off robbery and do nothing! They are the criminals who destroy our livelihoods and make life difficult for all of us!

Hoffa harbored no prejudice against his own brothers, regardless of right or wrong; he only felt hatred towards external enemies.

If possible, he also wanted to gain the support of these out-of-town drivers, even if they were from Luca.

But so what? Now that Luca is not in charge, Hofa can legitimately incite these workers.

Catching his breath, Hoffa's voice grew even more impassioned:
"The strength of the union lies in the unity of all drivers. The treatment our out-of-town brothers receive today is what you should strive for tomorrow! The union is not for internal strife! The union is for waging war against all forces that oppress the interests of us workers! Driving away our out-of-town brothers? That's like cutting off our own arm! What we need to do is ensure that all the brothers who work for the union receive what they deserve!"
I promise you, the union will fight for better contracts for every local driver! But the prerequisite is that we must now unite against external forces and take all our strength to completely eradicate those cancerous tumors that are destroying our livelihoods! Many drivers' eyes lit up with longing.

Hoffa raised his arms and shouted, like an enraged war god: "Listen up, everyone listen carefully! Here and now, there are no outsiders, no locals, no white bosses, no black employees!"

Hoffa paused, deliberately ignoring racial relations, and emphasized the external enemy: "Only our union brothers! We have only one enemy: those gangsters who disrupt order and rob the fruits of our labor!"

From this moment forward, the union will mobilize all its resources! We will cooperate with the police, we will mobilize our brothers! We will find the stolen gasoline, we will bring to justice those bastards who dared to touch union property! We will ensure that every road carrying union supplies remains unobstructed!
We will show everyone—out-of-town drivers, local drivers, gas station owners, and Detroit residents—the power of the union! Show them the consequences of angering the union!

Remember my words: Detroit would be better off without gangs; but if Detroit didn't have truck drivers, the whole city would come to a standstill!
Remember, it's not that we need this job, it's that this city needs us!

In an instant, the atmosphere at the scene was ignited, and many people applauded, cheered, and shouted Hoffa's name.

The internal strife was temporarily suppressed, replaced by a stirred-up sense of shared hatred against an external enemy and expectations of Hoffa's promises.

Hoffa didn't give a closing speech; he simply turned and went upstairs, leaving behind a resolute silhouette against the tidal wave of cheers.

Upstairs, Luca stood by the corridor railing, looking down at the bustling scene below, and couldn't help but sigh at Hoffa's aging spirit.

You secretly instigated Hoffa to temporarily quell the chaos among the various factions within the union. You upheld the peace of the truck drivers' union.

[Gain Skill Points x10]

[Gained 5 Skill Fragments]

Luca smiled with satisfaction. Hofa's intervention was exactly what he had expected. He had created such a good opportunity for Hofa to win over the people, and how could Hofa, who desperately needed support, possibly miss it?

"We are of the same mind when it comes to eliminating the black gangs in Detroit."

"But this fire will burn the brave warriors who led the charge to ashes."

In the following days, while Hoffa stepped in to publicly speak out for the union drivers and resist the gangs, Philip was facing the situation with mixed feelings at the Detroit Police Department.

The good news is that he destroyed a den of the YBI drug trafficking group, seized a large amount of drugs, and arrested many drug dealers. This is a great achievement. The drug dealers who died because of "resisting arrest" became just a few words in the book of merit.

Philip envisioned a bright future for himself, including a promotion and a raise.

The worrying thing is that the tanker truck still hasn't been found. No matter how much they tortured these YBI drug dealers, they couldn't get any information out of them, which made him wonder if they had the wrong people.
It really wasn't done by YBI drug dealers?
Just as he was sitting at his workstation thinking, his boss approached him:
"There's an awards ceremony in a couple of days. Jimmy Hoffa will be attending on behalf of the local truck drivers' union and will be providing a lot of sponsorship to our police department. You're currently in charge of the tanker robbery case, so you'll be attending as well."

Upon hearing this, Philip's eyes lit up. Great news!

The mafia boss kept his word and actually provided the sponsorship!
Philip seemed to see himself rising to prominence and enjoying great success.

At the same time, Luca also picked up the phone:

"Give those videos to the media, um, the national media."

“Let them see how white police officers in Detroit treat black people.”

"Oh, and also find me a few top-notch lawyers, no matter the cost, and then get in touch with the prosecutors and courts in Detroit. I want these police officers who have been charged to be acquitted!"

"They are not racist law enforcement officers who use excessive force, but rather anti-drug heroes!"

"What do Black people think when they see their fellow citizens being persecuted?"

Luca said calmly, "Let them protest. Anyway, the gavel of the American justice system won't hit their protest banners, it will only hit their heads."

(End of this chapter)