Hundreds of People May Need to Change Their Name Because of the Black Panthers
The New Black Panther Party bounty on George Zimmerman (1) doesn't just affect one individual. According to the site How Many of Me there are about 438 people (2) in the U.S. named George Zimmerman.
We are told that George Zimmerman is hiding. So anyone named George Zimmerman has to worry now that a black thug doesn't hear his name being mentioned at some retail shop and decide to mete out black vigilante justice. And before anyone objects that men who do not look like Zimmerman have nothing to fear, remember that whites all look alike to enraged black men (actually it is normal that people are able to differentiate between faces of their own race better than between the faces of other races (3)).
If my name were George Zimmerman I certainly wouldn't be ordering anything with a credit card at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in downtown Newark, NJ: "Oh, George Zimmerman, any relation to the guy from Florida?"
There is even the possibility that someone named George Zimmerman is moving into a new town. How long before it gets around that a "George Zimmerman" just moved into the neighborhood? I think I would have to change my name, although this is usually done in an open court and the name change posted on a public notice board for a few days. If it gets out that someone named "George Zimmerman" changed his name to "Juan Valdez," then there might be blood flowing in bodegas all over the country.
It is ironic that blacks, who suffered from mob lynchings in the South, would readily engage in the very same vigilantism today. Ironic and sad.
ENDNOTES
(1):
Washington Times, 30 Mar 2012, PICKET: DOJ on New Black Panther Party Zimmerman bounty - No comment
The U.S. Department of Justice had no comment on the $10,000 bounty the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) was offering for a "citizen's arrest" of George Zimmerman, the 28 year old man who told Sanford, Florida Police he shot and killed 17 year old Trayvon Martin on February 26 in an act of self-defense.
According to a number of reports, the NBPP "called for the mobilization of 10,000 black men" to do the "arrest." Zimmerman and his family have received death threats since the case became a national issue. Mr. Zimmerman has not been arrested by local authorities. Federal, state, and local investigations of the shooting are happening, and he is currently in hiding.
(2):
HowManyOfMe.com How many have your name?
There are
people with the name George Zimmerman in the U.S.A.The site calculates the probability of a first and last name using decennial Census data on names. The numbers estimated are for entertainment purposes only. How accurate is the estimate?
They say, "More accurate than a Magic 8-ball. Less accurate than distributing and collecting 300 million surveys."
For more detail go here.
(3):
io9, Does your brain think that all white people look the same?
An infamous concept in psychology is the 'Other Race Effect.' People are able to differentiate between faces of their own race better than between the faces of other races. A new study probes the mechanics of the phenomenon.
The Other Race Effect, and its equally unpleasant sounding attendant, the 'all look alike' phenomenon have been well known for most of a century. People of a certain race easily recognize individual faces of members of their own race, but are much less able to distinguish between the faces of members of other races.
