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Were the people of the galaxy not concerned that Palplatine had named a Sith Lord as his number 2 in the Empire?

Null
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Josh Schwarzzeskywalker
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Vader was mostly a troubleshooter and assassin for the Emperor, as noted in comments to this answer. He probably was not in the public eye, nor was he much involved in the day-to-day politics and administration of the Empire. As mentioned by Tarkin, this was done by the Senate with its bureaucracy, and later by regional governors:

TARKIN: The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I have just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away forever.

TAGGE: But that's impossible! How will the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?

TARKIN: The regional governors now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station.

By the time of Episode IV, it is known that Vader claims to be a Force user, although many do not believe the Force really exists:

ADMIRAL MOTTI: Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient Jedi religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you enough clairvoyance to find the rebels' hidden fortress...

[Vader makes a pinching motion and Motti starts choking]

Vader exhibits all the obvious characteristics of a Sith, including use of the prefix/title "Darth". But Motti does not mention the Sith, and instead refers to Vader as a Jedi. This is an indication that the Sith were not generally known.

It is possible that it suited the Emperor to tell part of the truth, that Vader had once been a Jedi but turned against his order. Interestingly enough, this is much the same as what Obi-Wan tells Luke:

OBI-WAN KENOBI: A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi knights.

It's also notable that Obi-Wan doesn't expect Luke to know what the Sith are, or consider it worth explaining to him.

Some people might remember the history of the Sith and make the connection to Darth Vader, but judging by Motti's remarks and other circumstantial evidence, this was not a matter of great public concern.

(All quotes from Episode IV)

Community
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Royal Canadian Bandit
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Vader was never officially Palpatine's heir. So outside of the inner circle, who knew what Vader and Palpatine were, it would never have come up in conversation.

James Sheridan
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    Didn't Vader use the force to publicly choke out employees that screwed up? Plus he carried a red lightsaber. They're two pretty Sith like qualities. You'd think at least one soldier would mention those shenanigans to his friends after work. – Daft Dec 05 '14 at 11:22
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    @Daft - "My job sucks. My buddy got choked, my other buddy got blown up on a space station by terrorists and don't even get me started on the lack of handrails" – Valorum Dec 05 '14 at 11:36
  • @Daft: Why would a grunt know that Sith carried red lighsabers? – James Sheridan Dec 05 '14 at 16:56
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    @JamesSheridan Why wouldn't he? – Daft Dec 05 '14 at 16:58
  • @Daft: Quick, what colour gun does a ranking officer in the Afghan military have? – James Sheridan Dec 05 '14 at 17:02
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    @JamesSheridan The regular person on the street could distinguish between a nazi uniform and an American soldiers uniform. Who's to say a Imperial soldier wouldn't know what colour lightsaber the Jedi and Sith used. There are only 3 or 4 colours that anyone has ever seen. – Daft Dec 05 '14 at 17:03
  • @Daft: The regular person on the street only knows that because of television. The very existence of the Force was something Palpatine tried to cover up. How many North Koreans do you think know the difference between US and Nazi uniforms? If you're argument is; "hey, maybe this guy knows some stuff that he has no need to know and which hasn't been common knowledge in two decades, if it even was then," then you have a poor argument. FWIW, I didn't know having a red lightsaber was a Sith trait, and I have considerably more experience with the Sith than an average grunt would. – James Sheridan Dec 05 '14 at 17:07
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    @JamesSheridan In fairness your argument makes as much sense as mine. And even forgetting the lightsaber... he uses the force very publicly to murder his employees. – Daft Dec 05 '14 at 17:13
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Most people in the galaxy aren't aware of the force, Jedi, or the sith. They certainly didn't know who Vader was either. Some people clearly took issue to the empire in general through, hence the rebel alliance.

Spider Disco
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    A lot of people alive during the Clone Wars would have still been alive and they would have remembered the Jedi. – Null Dec 05 '14 at 05:25
  • True, but they all thought they died and were traitors. And no one will connect vader to anakin – Spider Disco Dec 05 '14 at 05:30
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    I don't dispute the fact that most people were unaware that Anakin was Vader. But people were aware of the Jedi and the Force from the Clone Wars, so the first sentence is not entirely true. – Null Dec 05 '14 at 05:35
  • Most everyone it seemed in the movies and clone wars cartoons knew who the jedi were and knew what the force was. – Josh Schwarzzeskywalker Dec 06 '14 at 19:34