Democratic New York mayoral candidate Zoran Mamdani identified himself as both “Asian” and “African American” on his Columbia University application in 2009, though he prominently discussed his Muslim background during his campaign, according to the New York Times.
Before being appointed as the Democratic mayoral candidate in June, Mamdani worked with former governor Andrew Cuomo and often emphasized his upbringing and Muslim identity to resonate with New York City voters. Data from a 2021 breach at Columbia University revealed that on his application, Mamdani selected “Asian” and “Black or African American” as his racial identities.
In an interview following the Times’ report, Mamdani explained that he considered himself “American born in Africa,” but not specifically “black or African American.” In light of this, Socialist Democrats noted that they recorded “Ugandan” as more accurate information. “Most university applications don’t have boxes for Uganda in India, so I checked multiple boxes to express the complexity of my background,” Mamdani said.
“Although these options are limited, I wanted to capture who I am through the application process,” he added.
Columbia had begun its early diversity initiatives in the 1960s, focusing on standardized testing and increasing the recruitment of Black students. Over the years, such programs expanded to support a wider array of applicants.
Throughout his campaign, Mamdani frequently mentioned his Ugandan roots, moving to the US when he was seven, and highlighted his identity as a Muslim. In June, during an interfaith panel discussion, he shared his experiences with Islamophobia following 9/11. “It’s a fear that resonates strongly with me as a young Muslim man from New York City. My aunt, a doctor who wears a hijab, felt she couldn’t live publicly anymore,” Mamdani stated. “We acknowledge that there’s no space for this, yet we often only respond with thoughts and prayers. As we know from James 2:14, ‘faith without works is dead,’ so it’s time we act on what we believe.”
A few days prior to the election, Mamdani remarked on how his campaign negatively impacted his personal life, as his Muslim identity became a target for opposition. “I feel the implication that being a good Muslim is often tied to being a dead Muslim. It’s dangerous for me and my loved ones, and I try not to dwell on it,” he expressed.
Mamdani hails from a prominent family; his father, Mahmoud Mamdani, is a noted postcolonial scholar of Gujarati Shia Muslim heritage who teaches at Columbia, while his mother, Mira Naia, is an accomplished Indo-American filmmaker. After moving to Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Mamdani attended the Bank Street School, an elite private institution with tuition costs around $66,000 today. Although he was ultimately not accepted to Columbia, he continued his education at Bowdoin College in Maine.
