Zoran Mamdani’s Identity in the Spotlight

Zoran Mamdani, the leading candidate for mayor in New York City and a democratic socialist, has acknowledged that referring to him as African-American might be “misleading.” This contrasts with his Columbia University application where he indicated African-American among his racial identities.

A video that has recently reemerged showcases Mamdani, 33, confronted by questions regarding his campaign and personal identity.

During a conversation with performance artist Crackhead Bernie in April, he stated, “I’m from India, Uganda, and New York.”

When pressed further about labeling himself as African-American, he firmly responded, “No, I wouldn’t.” He expressed pride in his Ugandan heritage but reiterated that such labels feel inaccurate to him.

This clip gained traction on social media following a New York Times report indicating that in 2009, during his senior year of high school, Mamdani marked both “Asian” and “Black or African American” on his Ivy League application.

Born in Uganda, he didn’t categorize either identity as “Americans born in Africa” when discussing the matter with the press.

Defending his choices, Mamdani explained, “Most university applications don’t provide options for Uganda or India, so I checked multiple boxes to convey the complexity of my identity.”

He also mentioned that he included “Uganda” in the section for more detailed personal information to better represent himself.

Despite the limitations of the options available, he emphasized a desire for his application to accurately reflect his background, stating, “I wanted the university application to reflect who I was.”

Mamdani concluded that he didn’t select dual races during the admissions process, attributing that to the restricted choices found on the application form.