Dori: We have an answer on Sam Zimbabwe’s name change

Last week, we brought you the exclusive story on the new director of the Seattle Department of Transportation, Sam Zimbabwe. It turns out that Zimbabwe was not always Sam’s last name.

We had been asking to get Sam on the show because it struck me as odd that until 10 years ago, back when he worked in Philadelphia, he was Sam Zimmerman-Bergman. While he was working in Washington, D.C., he became Sam Zimbabwe.

I wondered on the show last week why the director of the Department of Transportation would have changed his name to a country that until recently was ruled by a dictator, and invited Sam to come on the show and chat with me about it.

RELATED: Why did SDOT Director Sam Zimbabwe change his last name? 

Over the weekend, SDOT sent a response to us this weekend, saying that they have “been following Dori’s interest in Sam’s last name.” They have now put up an entire article on their blog about Sam, including this section on his last name.

Did you know that Zimbabwe derives from the Shona name for an ancient town believed to mean ‘large houses of stone?’ Great Zimbabwe was such an important part of its national identity that the country in southern Africa was named for the historic town. Obviously, Zimbabwe is also Sam’s last name; when he and his wife got married they combined the beginnings of each of their four family surnames to form the name ‘Zimbabwe’ — and thereby established their new home and family on a ‘strong foundation of stone.’ Sam looks to bring the same foundation to SDOT as we work together to build the city of the future.

I’d like to know how Sam Zimbabwe — a white guy with the last name of an African country — has avoided the mob mentality of going after people for cultural appropriation that is so common in today’s society. I’m fascinated about the double-standard — some people get crucified and others get a pass.

And I’d still also like to know if there is more to this name change. Sam Zimbabwe is Jewish, and both Zimmerman and Bergman are common Jewish last names. As we know, there is a lot of antisemitism in Seattle. Is it easier to rise to the rank of city department director in Seattle with an African last name, rather than a Jewish one?

After Sam Zimbabwe comes on the show and I can move past the name-change, I want to move on to an era of conviviality, cohesion and cooperation between this show and SDOT. If anyone can heal the divisiveness of this day and age, it’s me.

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