Goodfellas is a story about a guy who wants to make something of himself, but that drive leads him to become something of a monster and lose much of what he cares about. The characters are Italian-American. Scarface is a story about a guy who wants to make something of himself, but that drive leads him to become something of a monster and lose much of what he cares about. The character is Cuban living in America. I think both do a good job of telling a very similar story in a different way, and I don't see any reason why only Italian-Americans can satisfy the same kind of story. In the Black Donnellys, the character is Irish. In both the Black Donnellys and the Godfather, the character at the center of the story actually doesn't want to get involved with organized crime. But when you lay down with dogs, you get fleas.
The reason why Italian-American organized crime is compelling is because of the rich history; immigration, facing discrimination, ethnic self-segregation (and imposed segregation) in neighborhoods, poverty causing people to seek opportunities outside the law. It's not hard to imagine that a game about a biracial guy during the civil rights era could hit those notes.
I've noticed that many Mafia stories are basically westerns in that they portray a world on the cusp of changing and people who don't want to change with it. One popular setup is that "the old ways", the "code of honour" replaced by new, somehow worse things; unrestrained use of violence; trafficking drugs or prostitutes. You see this in the Godfather and in Goodfellas and the Sopranos as well. Here is this icon of conservative institutions facing a changing world. Clearly this is a premise this game can explore; first, if as it seems in the trailer that the organized crime people are the bad guys, a move from traditional crime families to individuals. Second, the changing demographics of society. Maybe even black nationalism in the wake of the BPP and disgruntled Vietnam veterans. Lots of ways they could take this.
Finally, one of the most common tropes in crime stories is "one last score". Characters that would have made it out alive if only they could have just settled for what they had instead of pushing for more. That escalation is what undoes them. This is most palpable in Heat, but also To Live and Die in LA, Dog Day Afternoon, The Wild Bunch (also a western crime film, another connection between the genres), The Score, to a lesser extent The Town, you could probably even stretch this to something like Miller's Crossing (also Irish rather than Italian), Blow (also an example of the first thing I mentioned about the man of humble beginnings who becomes a successful monster through his ambition, also not Italian-American). It's easy to imagine how the quest for revenge depicted in the trailer will lead to a very similar conundrum. Do I let the guy get away, or really try to have revenge, even if it's my own undoing?
I think anyone immersed in organized crime films and organized crime books could look at the tropes and expectations of the genre and recognize that this game's setup could fulfill them, even though the dude is not Italian.