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How Did Hoover Influence The Power Of G-Men?

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Once the FBI became synonymous with the title “G-man,” Hoover became one of the largest “government patron[s] of the arts.” Hoover “helped produce radio shows, comic strips, pulp magazines, movies, and television programs all dedicated to the greater glory of the G-man.” Much like superheroes, the G-men became idols to kids. Many children “wore G-men pajamas to bed” and “played with G-men toy machine guns.” Hoover used such idolization to his advantage, helping him spread his own political agenda.
Much like G-men, gangsters also became popular characters in the media. Hoover did everything in his power to ensure he “[combated] the glamorous image of the gangsters.” He even went as far as to release FBI files to television and movie directors, just so he …show more content…

Unlike Robert Kennedy, who “civil rights had displaced organized crime as the issue of law enforcement closest to his heart,” change made Hoover nervous. According to the assistant director of the FBI, Hoover grew up in a segregated D.C. and was a Southern bigot at heart. The only African Americans in Hoover’s life happened to be his housekeepers and chauffeurs. Eventually Robert Kennedy mentioned to Hoover that there should be more than five agents of color in the Bureau, but he wouldn’t hear it. Hoover claimed Kennedy “wanted him to lower [the] qualifications and hire more Negro agents.” Hoover directly said to Kennedy, “Bobby, that’s not going to happen as long as I’m director of this bureau.” Unfortunately, Hoover’s prejudice set the precedent for the racial makeup of the FBI for many years to come. As of 2007, African Americans made up only 5.4% of the 12,617 total agents on the force. There have also been instances in which black agents sued the government for racial discrimination within the Bureau, even as late as the year

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