Part 30 (1/2)

There was a self-is”, those orked in the subterranean chaht shone There was near total sepa- ration between the two groups out of necessity;need-to-know criteria The most visible form of self-imposed isolation, and unintended competitiveness was that each camp spent Happy Hour at different bars A line that was rarely crossed

Unlike the her floors are reserved for upper, top, elite ement, the power brokers, at the FBI the farther down into the ground you worked, the s” tried to see ho they could sink in their acquisition of pohile rising up on the Govern froe Govern phone It was Washi+ngton, Bob Burnsen, his Washi+ngton based superior and family friend for years

”No, really Thanks,” Ty sh this before It's all very flattering, but no I'h this all” He was being cut off by his boss, so he shut up and listened

”BobBobBob,” Tyrone was laughing as he tried to interrupt the other end of the conversation ”OK, I'll give it soet your hopes up It's just not in ain

”Bob, I'll speak to Arlene again, but she feels the same way I do We're both quite content and frankly, I don't need the headaches” He looked around the room as he cocked the earpiece away froain

”Bob, I said I would I'll call you next week” He paused

”Right If you don't hear froht OK, Bob All right, you too Goodbye”

He hung up the phone in disbelief They just won't leave me alone Let

Tyrone Duncan joined the FBI in 1968, i cuainst hi accepted into the elite National Police Force The virtually autonoar Hoover had created over 60 years and 12 presidents ago was very selective about whouished pre-law training had him prepared to follow into his father's footsteps, as a partner with one of Boston's ious law firms Tyrone was a member of one of the very few rich and influential black families in the North East

His family was labeled ”Liberal” when one wasn't ashamed of the moniker

Then came Selma At 19, he participated in several of the marches in the South and it was then that he first hand saw prejudice But it was norance and fear It was so es left over froo; one that wouldn't let go of its ious Fueled by the oppressive heat and huer Lovers' were killed that suhts workers ed, at the e turned quickly to divisional disgust when local residents disratulated the perpetrators for their actions

The FBI was not called in to Alabama to solve murders, per se; murder is not a federal crime They were to solve the crihts

Tyrone thought that that approach was real slick, a nice legal side step to get what you want Put the lawyers on the case

When he asked the FBI if they could use a hand, the local over- worked, understaffed agents graciously accepted his offer and Tyrone spent the re other reat deal

On the plane back to Boston, Tyrone Duncan decided that his despite his father's urging, after law school he would join the FBI

Tyrone Duncan, graduate cum laude, GPA 387, Harvard Law School, passed the Massachussettes Bar on the first try and sailed through the written and physical tests for FBI adht His background check was unassailable except for his family's prominent liberal bent He had every basic qualification needed to becoent He was turned down

Thurman Duncan, his pro it on Hoover personally But Tyrone decided to 'investi- gate' and deters He called FBI personnel and asked why he had been rejected Theythe mold'

That hen he realized that he was turned down solely because he was black Tyrone was not about to let a racial issue stand in his way

He located a couple of the agents ho the last summer After the pleasantries, Tyrone told the for a position as an assistant DA in Boston

Would they ht on ti, Tyrone thought, the resemblance to Hoov- er The four letters of recommendation, which read more like votes for sainthood were a little overdone, but, they were on FBI stationary Tyrone asked the Personnel Director if they would reconsider his application, and that if necessary, he would ash his skin

The following day Tyrone received a call Oh, it was a big mix- up We misfiled someone else's charts in your files and, well, you understand, I'm sure It happens all the time We're sorry for any inconvenience Would you be available to come in on Monday? Welcome to the FBI

Tyrone paid his dues early Got shot at soas stations in 17 states for some unfathoinary enemies to feed the Hoover Nixon paranoia He tried, fairly successfully to stay away from that last kind of work In Tyrone's not so hus for FBI agents to be doing than worry about George McGovern's toilet habits or if soh school kids and their radical newspaper were iinarily linked to the Kremlin Ah, but that was politics