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Polybius

(20,495 posts)
Sat Jul 5, 2025, 11:08 PM Jul 5

Adams and Cuomo rip Mamdani for identifying as African American on college application

Source: MSN

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo are calling for an investigation into Democratic nominee for mayor Zohran Mamdani for identifying as racially "Black or African American" on a leaked college application despite being South Asian.

Mamdani identified as "Black or African American" as well as "Asian" in his 2009 application to Columbia University. He said he no longer considers himself to be black or African-American and says he is “an American who was born in Africa.”

The mayoral candidate was born in Uganda but is of South Asian origin, though his father's family came to Africa more than 100 years ago, he said. He justified his choices on the application by saying he wanted to capture the "fullness" of his background — despite the question asking for his race and not his nationality.

“Most college applications don’t have a box for Indian-Ugandans, so I checked multiple boxes trying to capture the fullness of my background,” Mamdani said.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/adams-and-cuomo-rip-mamdani-for-identifying-as-african-american-on-college-application/ar-AA1I2e4R

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Adams and Cuomo rip Mamdani for identifying as African American on college application (Original Post) Polybius Jul 5 OP
Is that all they've got? Ocelot II Jul 5 #1
Yep. That's what they got. They are two large pieces of crap. NoRethugFriends Jul 5 #2
It's a technicality Pototan Jul 5 #3
...Gotta find something wrong with the guy. Safe as Milk Jul 6 #12
Well, I respectfully disagree Pototan Jul 6 #17
Thanks for keeping it honest. Majority of DU wouldn't agree. rogue emissary Jul 6 #22
He didn't identify as "Native African." pnwmom Jul 6 #35
True - but that is because Native American is the only group requiring validation from one of the 574 tribes recognized 24601 Jul 6 #56
This message was self-deleted by its author AZProgressive Jul 6 #65
My Grandparents Are Hungarian, Polish, German, and Scottish DrFunkenstein Jul 7 #75
I can kind of understand his dilemma. What do you put when the choices don't Tadpole Raisin Jul 6 #28
Exactly. mwooldri Jul 6 #52
My brother was born in Japan....... LeftInTX Jul 8 #94
An embarrassingly weak allegation, sort of like Obama's birth certificate. Silent Type Jul 5 #4
So a high school student who immigrated here as a child from Africa pnwmom Jul 5 #5
No, when he admitted non of his South Asian family married any Africans rogue emissary Jul 6 #23
"my parents are black" is indeed how Americans comradebillyboy Jul 6 #29
Thank you. Be careful on DU. rogue emissary Jul 6 #32
I know. I am considered too insensitive by many. comradebillyboy Jul 6 #33
He was an immigrant who knew he came from Africa. pnwmom Jul 6 #36
It's completely understandable and forgivable for an 18 yo kid. comradebillyboy Jul 6 #41
From what I've read, that is the only instance they could find of him doing that. pnwmom Jul 6 #43
If that's the case it's no more than a youthful error. comradebillyboy Jul 6 #50
he grew up in America and was exposed to race and racism for years. rogue emissary Jul 6 #47
He was a high school kid who checked multiple boxes -- both South Asian and African, pnwmom Jul 6 #64
I was comparing him to myself when I was a High School student. rogue emissary Jul 6 #66
The word "African' doesn't tie a person to a particular tribe. nt pnwmom Jul 7 #68
Exactly, it's a Continental landmass. rogue emissary Jul 7 #80
Then why did you compare his situation to your not identifying as Seminole? pnwmom Jul 7 #81
When I applied to colleges. I always checked the Black or African American. rogue emissary Jul 7 #84
But you had lived in this country for your whole life. Zohran and his family had lived in Africa. pnwmom Jul 7 #85
I do and that's clear. rogue emissary Jul 8 #91
Last thing as you point out he was 17 teenager. rogue emissary Jul 8 #93
He was seven. My grandparents were born and raised in Turkey and came here as adults. LeftInTX Jul 8 #95
How is a high school student from Uganda supposed to know pnwmom Jul 6 #34
He was living in the US since 5 years old JI7 Jul 7 #74
Actually, he was 7 when his family moved here markpkessinger Jul 7 #77
So what? He was still a high school student. I've had three kids that age and I bet pnwmom Jul 7 #79
He's from a life of privilege. His mother is a hugely successful film maker. LeftInTX Jul 8 #100
LOL. You're assuming that his parents didn't TEACH him to view himself as having come from Africa. nt pnwmom Jul 8 #101
What do you do when a form says "check all that apply" ? I guess for you that's easy... Hekate Jul 6 #42
He still wouldn't apply. rogue emissary Jul 6 #49
He was 18 Hekate Jul 6 #59
How would you expect the high school student to know what the box specifically did or didn't mean? pnwmom Jul 8 #102
Does this mean Cuomo is running against Mamdani again? AZProgressive Jul 6 #6
How many generations have to be born in Africa to qualify as African? mackdaddy Jul 6 #7
Musk family goes back three generations in South Africa. rogue emissary Jul 6 #24
Exactly. comradebillyboy Jul 6 #30
"We" don't refer to that racist 54 yr. old as African American. The only time on record that Zohran pnwmom Jul 6 #44
He shouldn't even respond. It's a non issue Pisces Jul 6 #8
It's a none issue to you and majority of DU. rogue emissary Jul 6 #25
So those votes will go to choie Jul 6 #45
Not necessarily. rogue emissary Jul 6 #48
That's how we got *rump questionseverything Jul 6 #60
Agree 100%. rogue emissary Jul 6 #61
Exactly. choie Jul 8 #89
Not voting choie Jul 8 #88
I'd say Adams gets the vote Polybius Jul 7 #71
A vote for a corrupt choie Jul 8 #90
I hope not, but he's doing the never apologize strategy. rogue emissary Jul 8 #92
A litteral example of Whatabout-ism IbogaProject Jul 6 #9
BINGO! (n/t) OldBaldy1701E Jul 6 #20
New Yorkers don't care what race Mamdani says he is, they just want lower rent. SunSeeker Jul 6 #10
Being that he's in the hands of the real estate lobby choie Jul 6 #46
I can see why many are calling the NYT latest "bombshell" about Mamdani a hit piece. summer_in_TX Jul 6 #11
The NYT is going after him. thought crime Jul 6 #40
Yes, pretty damn clear. And scurrilous. summer_in_TX Jul 7 #86
Uganda is in East Africa Pototan Jul 6 #13
Musk joked about himself being African American Polybius Jul 6 #15
leftist called him crazy and offensive for saying it. rogue emissary Jul 6 #26
Is Musk a teenager? Did Musk only say that on a college application where he also checked off pnwmom Jul 6 #37
That's arguably worse than a joke, but you can't criticize one without the other Polybius Jul 7 #69
Sure you can. Musk is a middle aged man and Zohran was a teenager. pnwmom Jul 7 #72
The joke wasn't binding Polybius Jul 7 #73
Every bit as much as three generations of residence comradebillyboy Jul 6 #31
True, in the US. But there was no definition written on the college application, pnwmom Jul 6 #39
Mamdani winning must be scaring the daylights Deminpenn Jul 6 #14
So far it's either out right criminals and verified sex pests endorsing his opponent. Hassin Bin Sober Jul 6 #16
What desperation Adams and Cuomo are showing. RedArkGuy Jul 6 #18
Considering they refused to publish hacked JD Vance emails fujiyamasan Jul 6 #19
If you are referring to quotas, yes, that worked very well for generations of white men... Hekate Jul 6 #57
The losers "calling for an investigation!!!!!" Grins Jul 6 #21
A couple of pots calling the kettle.... SSJVegeta Jul 6 #27
Just another smear that no one should care about. thought crime Jul 6 #38
Guys... stollen Jul 6 #51
Unforced error by Cuomo. (Adams doesn't matter.) Scrivener7 Jul 6 #53
So, a guy from Africa said he was "African-American"... appmanga Jul 6 #54
So the guy was all of 18 and staring a college application form in the face... Hekate Jul 6 #58
His dad is a professor at Columbia. We tried checking all the blanks when we applied in the 70s. LeftInTX Jul 8 #96
That's certainly an exceptional set of parents he has. He may indeed have been cocky from the start... Hekate Jul 8 #98
If you get a chance to see any of his mother, Mira Nair's movies, they're worth it. LeftInTX Jul 8 #99
Monsoon Wedding was hers? It was overshadowed by My Big Fat Greek Wedding... Hekate Jul 8 #105
This is July's replacement to June's "Biden's Health!" headliners. Torchlight Jul 8 #106
Just wow Diraven Jul 6 #55
In a normal universe, you would expect Democrats to rally behind their candidate. eggplant Jul 6 #62
All this makes me like Mamdani more and more mainer Jul 6 #63
Who are they to talk? iemanja Jul 7 #67
Deport Cuomo please. nt KPN Jul 7 #70
Sounds serious, Adams and Cuomo Torchlight Jul 7 #76
This whole thing is silly mcar Jul 7 #78
Racist POS Trump Used This To Derail Elizabeth Warren's Campaign DrFunkenstein Jul 7 #82
Not really "miles ahead" Polybius Jul 7 #83
Wow didn't realize Adams was polling behind Silwa fujiyamasan Jul 8 #87
It looks like a lot of Republicans are voting for Cuomo this election Polybius Jul 8 #97
Non-issue. no_hypocrisy Jul 8 #103
Maybe they should call him "Pocahontas." Gore1FL Jul 8 #104
Uganda is in Africa Bluestocking Jul 8 #107

NoRethugFriends

(3,427 posts)
2. Yep. That's what they got. They are two large pieces of crap.
Sat Jul 5, 2025, 11:15 PM
Jul 5

I doubt he can deliver on a lot of what he's campaigned on, due to financial constraints,
but he's miles better than the rest of those running.

Pototan

(2,714 posts)
3. It's a technicality
Sat Jul 5, 2025, 11:18 PM
Jul 5

Mamdani, as an 18-year-old, identified on his application as "African American". He certainly is a person of color. By way of example, a Haitian individual may identify as African American, when in fact, his ancestry is Carribean. That is certainly acceptable. It should be of no consequence that Mr. Mamdani identified as African American, since his country of birth is close enough to identify in that way.

People are making a big deal out of nothing.

Safe as Milk

(131 posts)
12. ...Gotta find something wrong with the guy.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 01:58 AM
Jul 6

But that he identified with African Americans is not a statement regarding genetic inheritance. Anyone is free to identify with whatever cultural group they wish. The criticism says much more about Cuomo and Adams than it does about Mamdani.

Pototan

(2,714 posts)
17. Well, I respectfully disagree
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 03:52 AM
Jul 6

All 4 of my Grandparents were born in Italy. I certainly can't identify as Native American without severe social repercussions. And I would deserve them.

24601

(4,088 posts)
56. True - but that is because Native American is the only group requiring validation from one of the 574 tribes recognized
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 04:23 PM
Jul 6

by the US Bureau of Indian Affairs. Choosing any other ethnicity is strictly your choice. This situation is analogous to Musk identifying as African-American. While technically accurate, we all recognize it as morally wrong when it's done to gain a competitive advantage.

Response to 24601 (Reply #56)

DrFunkenstein

(8,790 posts)
75. My Grandparents Are Hungarian, Polish, German, and Scottish
Mon Jul 7, 2025, 11:02 AM
Jul 7

I certainly can't identify as an Italian-American without looking like an idiot. And I would deserve to.

Because, like, there's no connection whatsoever.

Tadpole Raisin

(1,889 posts)
28. I can kind of understand his dilemma. What do you put when the choices don't
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 01:01 PM
Jul 6

exactly fit. I imagine it’s a much more common problem now than it was 50 years ago.

What do some questionnaires say? - ‘mark all that apply’ and he did.

mwooldri

(10,660 posts)
52. Exactly.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 03:54 PM
Jul 6

He checked more than one box. African-American (which he kinda is, since he was born in Uganda) and South Asian (which he genetically inherited obviously).

Though to throw a wrench into the works.... One could say that Elon Musk is more African -American than Mamdani. But I digress.

LeftInTX

(32,811 posts)
94. My brother was born in Japan.......
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 10:43 AM
Jul 8

But I certainly don't think of him as Japanese....


I think Mamdani put Ugandan because, it would be easier to be accepted into Columbia. Just my opinion.
It's becoming more difficult for Asian-Americans (which he technically is) to be accepted into Ivy league schools.

My grandparents would never identify as Turkish, even though they were were born and raised there and their families had been there thousands for of years. We are Armenian.

However, this is a nothing-burger when it comes to his election.

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
5. So a high school student who immigrated here as a child from Africa
Sat Jul 5, 2025, 11:48 PM
Jul 5

and whose family had lived in Africa for a hundred years, shouldn't check the box that said African?

rogue emissary

(3,289 posts)
23. No, when he admitted non of his South Asian family married any Africans
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 12:49 PM
Jul 6

Last edited Sun Jul 6, 2025, 11:13 PM - Edit history (1)

And he has no Ugandan ancestors.
The box he checked was not about geography or even place of birth.

It was a box I've checked all my life. As my parents are black, and I identify as African American.




pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
36. He was an immigrant who knew he came from Africa.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 01:44 PM
Jul 6

And he was a teenager. And yet you expect him to have an adult's, and an American's, point of view on what African means.

comradebillyboy

(10,794 posts)
41. It's completely understandable and forgivable for an 18 yo kid.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 02:02 PM
Jul 6

Does he still identify that way today? I the answer is no, there is no problem, if the answer is yes, big problem.

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
43. From what I've read, that is the only instance they could find of him doing that.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 02:11 PM
Jul 6

And they looked.

rogue emissary

(3,289 posts)
47. he grew up in America and was exposed to race and racism for years.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 03:12 PM
Jul 6

When I was a kid my grandmother had a picture of her great grand sisters sitting on a porch. One was sitting crossed leg and hair braided. Her facial features would be considered native American.I thought as a majority of my family is light skin. We might have native ancestors. We never took any DNA test. So when I applied for college. I never put Native American just because I hoped or was under the impression that picture was proof of it.

As an immigrant he would have learned more American history than a native born child in mean cases.

I expect him to be respectable and not try to troll or take an unfair benefit he did not deserve. I don't know why he did it as his response doesn't make any sense.

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
64. He was a high school kid who checked multiple boxes -- both South Asian and African,
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 07:00 PM
Jul 6

and then wrote Uganda next to the box -- because that's where he'd come from and his family had lived for 100 years.

There is no reason to think that he would have learned more about American social norms (i.e., not counting people with South Asian ancestry as Africans) than a native born child.

Why are you comparing a high school senior to full grown adults, who've lived in the US all their lives and have been seeped in all the cultural issues here?

rogue emissary

(3,289 posts)
66. I was comparing him to myself when I was a High School student.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 11:00 PM
Jul 6

Had enough sense not to identify as Seminole, as I was born around Miami.

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
81. Then why did you compare his situation to your not identifying as Seminole?
Mon Jul 7, 2025, 03:37 PM
Jul 7

You do identify as American, which is comparable -- for a young immigrant from Uganda -- to identifying as African.

rogue emissary

(3,289 posts)
84. When I applied to colleges. I always checked the Black or African American.
Mon Jul 7, 2025, 08:00 PM
Jul 7

I did not think or had been to the African continent. I bring up Seminole cause I was born on their land but not on a reservation. The box he checked was about race and ethnicity. Not geography.

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
85. But you had lived in this country for your whole life. Zohran and his family had lived in Africa.
Mon Jul 7, 2025, 09:22 PM
Jul 7

You keep assuming that a 17 year old high school student who was born in Africa would understand that that box didn't refer to geography. I don't.

rogue emissary

(3,289 posts)
93. Last thing as you point out he was 17 teenager.
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 10:42 AM
Jul 8

Twelve years of that seventeen year old life was in the US. He moved to the U. S. When he was five. So his formative years was in New York. I seriously doubt he remembers much of Uganda when he was a teenager.

LeftInTX

(32,811 posts)
95. He was seven. My grandparents were born and raised in Turkey and came here as adults.
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 10:48 AM
Jul 8

Last edited Tue Jul 8, 2025, 11:31 AM - Edit history (3)

My grandfather and great grandfather were Turkish citizens. (Women weren't allowed) My family had lived there for thousands for years.

We would have never considered ourselves Turkish, because we are Armenian.


He's from an elite background. His father is a professor at Columbia. He's not just a naive kid with a form stuffed in front of his face.

His mother is a world famous film maker. His mother made this movie the year he was born!!

His mother produced Mississippi Masala. Which in some way mirrors their lives. It's about Indian family which was expelled from Uganda and moved to the US. If you watch the trailer, you will know that Zohran certainly can't be naive about these things and he certainly wasn't some kid with a paper pushed in front of his face.

He's Mira Nair's son for god's sake!!!

&ab_channel=JanusFilms


Zohran isn't naive. He's savvy.

He's not just an average kid with a form stuffed in his face. He thought about this......

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
34. How is a high school student from Uganda supposed to know
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 01:41 PM
Jul 6

what the official American definition of the term is supposed to mean? He also checked off Indian.

markpkessinger

(8,798 posts)
77. Actually, he was 7 when his family moved here
Mon Jul 7, 2025, 01:09 PM
Jul 7

Not that it really matters. He was born in Uganda, as a citizen of that country, and spent the first 7 years of his life in South Africa. It was perfectly reasonable of him to check both "Asian" and "Black or African American" (note the conjunction, "or&quot . He also additionally identified himself as "Ugandan" in a section of the application for additional information.

What all of this really points to is the extent to which the concept of "race" in this country is entirely socially constructed!

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
79. So what? He was still a high school student. I've had three kids that age and I bet
Mon Jul 7, 2025, 02:06 PM
Jul 7

they wouldn't have realized there's be anything controversial about a kid from Africa checking off boxes that said South Asian and African.

LeftInTX

(32,811 posts)
100. He's from a life of privilege. His mother is a hugely successful film maker.
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 05:29 PM
Jul 8
In 1988, Nair met her second husband, Indo-Ugandan political scientist Mahmood Mamdani, while in Uganda doing research for the film Mississippi Masala. Mamdani teaches at Columbia University[4] and is also the chancellor of Kampala International University in Uganda. Their son, Zohran Mamdani, was born in Kampala, Uganda in 1991. In 2020, Zohran won a seat representing Astoria, Queens, in the New York State Assembly.[41] He won the Democratic Primary for the New York Mayoral election in 2025.[42]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira_Nair


He wasn't some naive immigrant kid. His mom went to Harvard and is a Hollywood filmmaker.

Nair and Taraporevala next worked together on the 1991 film Mississippi Masala, which told the story of Ugandan-born Indians displaced in Mississippi.[4] The film centers on a carpet-cleaner business owner (Denzel Washington) who falls in love with the daughter (Sarita Choudhury) of one of his Indian clients. The film revealed the prejudice in African-American and Indian communities. It was well received by critics, earned a standing ovation at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival, and won three awards at the Venice Film Festival.[11]

Here are her films:
1988 Salaam Bombay!
1991 Mississippi Masala
1995 The Perez Family
1996 Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love
2001 Monsoon Wedding
2004 Vanity Fair
2006 The Namesake
2009 Amelia
2012 The Reluctant Fundamentalist
2016 Queen of Katwe

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
101. LOL. You're assuming that his parents didn't TEACH him to view himself as having come from Africa. nt
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 05:42 PM
Jul 8

Hekate

(98,530 posts)
42. What do you do when a form says "check all that apply" ? I guess for you that's easy...
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 02:08 PM
Jul 6

…and I am happy for the simplicity of your life. In my life I’ve been accustomed to living in two majority-minority states, and for many I’ve known it wasn’t that simple.

For our earnest bean-counters in the US government, the motives for attempting to keep track of race change just about every generation, and sometimes every census. What “race” even constitutes also keeps changing, because historically the country has been obsessed with blackness and whiteness. It’s gotten much more interesting given the massive changes in the US population.

Fareed Zakaria said something I hadn’t been aware of, and to me it gave some insight into why certain Americans have high anxiety about “replacement” — in brief, when I was 3 years old in 1950, America was 90% white. All minorities were seriously in the minority, at 10%. (My family moved from California to Hawai’i when I was 9, and the demographics were quite different) In 2021, when Fareed gave his program The Divided States of America, the numbers had flipped to 59% white.

So now when some drooling Proud Boy or 3%er says his grandpappy told him this country used to be white, the old man might have been racist, but he was not blind. “Used to be” is actually true. “Supposed to be” is something else entirely.


America was 90% white in 1950
America was 59% white in 2021
Fareed Zakaria
#Divided America
The Divided States of America
CNN Special
Feb. —- 2021

rogue emissary

(3,289 posts)
49. He still wouldn't apply.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 03:40 PM
Jul 6

The box for Black or African American wasn't referring to location of birth. .

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
102. How would you expect the high school student to know what the box specifically did or didn't mean?
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 05:43 PM
Jul 8

AZProgressive

(29,698 posts)
6. Does this mean Cuomo is running against Mamdani again?
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 12:05 AM
Jul 6

He is from Africa and he is an immigrant so I don't think it is like what Elizabeth Warren did but either way it is a non-issue to me.

mackdaddy

(1,792 posts)
7. How many generations have to be born in Africa to qualify as African?
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 12:12 AM
Jul 6

His family goes back 100 years in Africa, And he is now an American citizen.

This whole thing seems like bullshit.


I did an Ancestry DNA it it turns out I am 1%Native American and something over 1% west African in addition to English/Scott/Swiss.

What percentage Do I have to be to identify as whatever?

Is that enough that I can use the "n" word in casual conversation?

rogue emissary

(3,289 posts)
24. Musk family goes back three generations in South Africa.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 12:53 PM
Jul 6

We do not call or refer to Musk as African American. Even though he trolls liberals by using the term. .

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
44. "We" don't refer to that racist 54 yr. old as African American. The only time on record that Zohran
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 02:15 PM
Jul 6

checked off that box (in addition to writing in the word Uganda and checking off South Asia) is when he was in high school, applying for college.

rogue emissary

(3,289 posts)
25. It's a none issue to you and majority of DU.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 12:55 PM
Jul 6

How he does in the general and if he loses the African American vote again. Will show us how big a issue it is for blacks.

choie

(5,814 posts)
45. So those votes will go to
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 02:40 PM
Jul 6

Cuomo or Adams? Two corrupt politicians (one most likely a criminal) with more of the same middle of the road policies? Dems voting against their interest again.

rogue emissary

(3,289 posts)
48. Not necessarily.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 03:18 PM
Jul 6

They may chose to not vote or leave the the mayor line blank. Like mamdani encourage Palestinian voters in the primary.

I've never advocated not voting, but DU has taught me it's an acceptable form of protest.

Disliking middle of the road politics is your position. Not everyone has that position.


choie

(5,814 posts)
88. Not voting
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 07:41 AM
Jul 8

IS voting. And it's not just middle of the road politics that I dislike. It's also corruption and criminality.

rogue emissary

(3,289 posts)
92. I hope not, but he's doing the never apologize strategy.
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 10:31 AM
Jul 8

It's worked for white politicians and we'll see if it works for him

IbogaProject

(4,634 posts)
9. A litteral example of Whatabout-ism
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 12:24 AM
Jul 6

Total misdirection from the issues as the wealthy don't wish to highlight their privledge, resources and unfair advantages ontop of their greed and selfishness.

SunSeeker

(56,151 posts)
10. New Yorkers don't care what race Mamdani says he is, they just want lower rent.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 12:30 AM
Jul 6

What's Cuomo offering in that regard?

summer_in_TX

(3,690 posts)
11. I can see why many are calling the NYT latest "bombshell" about Mamdani a hit piece.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 12:47 AM
Jul 6

Mamdani Once Claimed to Be Asian and African American. Should It Matter? - The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/04/nyregion/mamdani-college-black-reaction.html

The data itself came from a hacked college admissions archive, leaked over a decade ago. The source goes by Cremieux Recueil online, and is followed by Elon Musk who has retweeted his posts on X. He wrote and article titled "Elites are genetically different" for a pro-eugenics Substack outlet named Aporia.

He has a history of opposing race-based admissions, and apparently believes that Mamdani was trying to get a seat set aside for an African-American through a quota. Mamdani was not admitted to Columbia, even though his father is a professor there.

A Guardian investigation points to his identity being Jordan Lasker, a grad student whose writings are about "race science" and is a pro-natalist. He spoke at a pro-natalist conference at the University of Texas under his Cremieux alias in March. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/natal-conference-austin-texas-eugenics

It is certainly ODD that the New York Times did not provide that information to readers in their article on Zohran Mamdani and his checking boxes including South Asian and African-American both, and writing Uganda beside the latter as a 17-year-old applying for colleges. Here's all they said about the source:

Mr. Mamdani’s answers on the Columbia application were included in data obtained through an internal data hack of Columbia University that was shared with The Times, and then confirmed by Mr. Mamdani. The cyberattack was apparently carried out by an opponent of affirmative action, who was attempting to determine if Columbia was still using race-conscious policies after the Supreme Court effectively banned the practice in 2023.


Looking at the article, it strikes me how many times NYT quotes people framing that as negative.
• "two [rivals] suggesting potential fraud and calling for further investigation.:
• "Right-wing pundits call Mr. Mamdani a liar"
• "a spokesman for the Adams campaign, said that Mr. Mamdani had “misrepresented his racial identity to gain admission to Columbia University,” adding: “This is not just dishonest — it’s possibly fraudulent. It may have taken a place away from a qualified African American applicant and misused a process designed to correct real, systemic inequities.”
•"Mr. Cuomo’s campaign said that Mr. Mamdani’s Columbia application raised questions as to whether he was hiding other information."
• “Mamdani, his proposals, his funding, and his background received absolutely no scrutiny from the press,” said Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo’s campaign. “This issue must be fully investigated, because, if true, it could be fraud and just the tip of the iceberg.”
• [Another candidate running as an independent] asserted "that Mr. Mamdani was “the most poorly vetted candidate in history.”


Although they observed that he didn't claim to be black or African-American anywhere but in those applications, they do not mention that many mixed race people have trouble completing that information on the census.
The New York Times could find no speeches or interviews in which Mr. Mamdani referred to himself as Black or African American, and he said in an interview that applications to Columbia and other colleges were the only instances when he could recall describing himself as such.


Patrick Healy, assistant managing editor for NYT said:
“Mr. Mamdani shared his thinking about the limitations of identity-related boxes on application forms like Columbia’s, and how he wrote in ‘Uganda,’ the country of his birth, to explain why he checked the box — a decision many people with overlapping identities have wrestled with when they have been confronted with such form requests. Mr. Mamdani’s thinking and decision-making were newsworthy and in line with our mission to help readers better know and understand top candidates.”


Kamala Harris's biracial identity was questioned too.

I can attest that there's a escandal being made out of this news story. I saw a LOT of negative comments about it online.

thought crime

(488 posts)
40. The NYT is going after him.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 01:56 PM
Jul 6

It's a non-issue but adversaries can use it as a talking point. "he claims to be Black". And you are right; it's similar to the charge that Kamala "switched her identity".

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
37. Is Musk a teenager? Did Musk only say that on a college application where he also checked off
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 01:47 PM
Jul 6

South Asian, and added the word "Uganda"?

Polybius

(20,495 posts)
69. That's arguably worse than a joke, but you can't criticize one without the other
Mon Jul 7, 2025, 01:34 AM
Jul 7

Both were born in Africa, and I don't have a problem with either saying they are AA.

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
72. Sure you can. Musk is a middle aged man and Zohran was a teenager.
Mon Jul 7, 2025, 01:43 AM
Jul 7

And Zohran only checked that box once.

Polybius

(20,495 posts)
73. The joke wasn't binding
Mon Jul 7, 2025, 01:49 AM
Jul 7

Nor used for anything important. Not attacking anyone though, because technically neither lied.

comradebillyboy

(10,794 posts)
31. Every bit as much as three generations of residence
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 01:19 PM
Jul 6

in South Africa make Elon Musk an African American. In the US African American means Black. It's never meant anything else.

pnwmom

(109,955 posts)
39. True, in the US. But there was no definition written on the college application,
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 01:48 PM
Jul 6

and Zohran was a teenager who had immigrated from Africa. He also checked the South Asia box, and wrote in "Uganda."

RedArkGuy

(822 posts)
18. What desperation Adams and Cuomo are showing.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 05:03 AM
Jul 6

This is the kind of garbage Republicans tried to use to defeat Elizabeth Warren in her senate runs and which Trump hoots to the skies to this day every time he mentions her.

Cuomo and Adams should both be ashamed of using Trump tactics, but neither seems capable of feeling that.

fujiyamasan

(414 posts)
19. Considering they refused to publish hacked JD Vance emails
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 06:16 AM
Jul 6

But chose to cover this non story, the NYT proves once again it’s run by a bunch of mouthpieces for the elite.

It also shows what a joke race based admissions is.



Hekate

(98,530 posts)
57. If you are referring to quotas, yes, that worked very well for generations of white men...
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 04:44 PM
Jul 6

Last edited Tue Jul 8, 2025, 07:05 PM - Edit history (1)

Women need not be admitted/hired, they’ll only get married, then pregnant, and waste their education. African-Americans, certainly not. As for Jews, sooner or later the institutions had to recognize the exceptionalism of a tiny fraction, enough to have a quota that admitted a few of these competitors, but only a few and no more.

Ruth Bader-Ginsberg was one of only a very few women admitted to her law school — one of her professors (maybe the Dean himself) made her, during the introductions, stand up and justify why she, a woman, deserved to take a man’s place there. Quotas — because those places belonged to men, specifically white Christian men (but not Roman Catholic, because that would mean Irish and Italians and the Pope in Rome) .

Affirmative Action, on the other hand, does not operate on a quota system. The simplest possible explanation, the easiest to grasp, came to me from a County manager. County is civil service, and requires an exam as well as a resume. The exam has a range of acceptable scores. In a county with about 50% Latinos, how is it possible for the County employment roster to have almost no Latinos?

Well, back before LBJ, there used to be no requirement for open recruitment, so a supervisor was likely to simply tell his (his) current staff that an opening was coming up, and they would tell their relatives and neighbors. Interested persons would take the exam, and if they scored anywhere along the acceptable range (even the bottom of acceptability) they were hired. Long-time employees would say it was “just like working with family” — to which I say, “No Duh.”

Affirmative Action changed some laws (requiring open recruitment being one) and changed the County employment culture, too, at least in my county and at least until it was outlawed. Across the whole nation (in hiring and in education) the very concept was always tarred with the Right Wing accusation that AA was quotas for unqualified POC and women. “Unqualified women and POC” who were unfairly taking places that were rightfully those of white men.

The Right Wing has won. But AA, which I worked on for over a decade, was not a quota system. The Right Wing, in its insistence that AA is soooooo unfair, is simply admitting that their white sons cannot handle competition.

SSJVegeta

(1,117 posts)
27. A couple of pots calling the kettle....
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 12:58 PM
Jul 6

And Mamdanis just kinda watching them ridicule the strawman while he wins.

appmanga

(1,206 posts)
54. So, a guy from Africa said he was "African-American"...
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 04:09 PM
Jul 6

...how desperate and insulting can his opponents get? The next four months will answer that, I'm sure.

Hekate

(98,530 posts)
58. So the guy was all of 18 and staring a college application form in the face...
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 04:49 PM
Jul 6

Wondering “What do they really want to hear? What am I, really? “

Simply on the basis of this attempt to destroy him by a major newspaper and two dirtied-up long-time politicians, I am wishing this young man all the luck in the world.

LeftInTX

(32,811 posts)
96. His dad is a professor at Columbia. We tried checking all the blanks when we applied in the 70s.
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 10:56 AM
Jul 8

Thought long and hard about it for quite awhile. We wanted financial aid. In the end, we had to put plain old white.

Trust me, I'm pretty sure he was savvy enough to know that Ugandan would help him more than Asian-American.

He's not just a kid with a form stuffed in his face. He's the son of a ivy league professor applying to an ivy league school. I'm sure he thought long and hard about this.

Heck, his mother is a world famous, excellent movie producer: Mira Nair. Her first movie was Salaam Bombay in 1988

&ab_channel=UnseenTrailers

I'm always looking for Salaam Bombay. But it isn't available on DVD anymore.

She also produced Mississippi Masala. Which in some way mirrors their lives. It's about Indian family which was expelled from Uganda and moved to the US. If you watch the trailer, you will know that Zohran certainly can't be naive about these things and he certainly wasn't some kid with a paper pushed in front of his his face.

&ab_channel=JanusFilms

I don't think Mamdani is naive about these things.......

I think he's savvy...


Heck, he's Mira Nair's son!


He's not just an average kid!!!

Hekate

(98,530 posts)
98. That's certainly an exceptional set of parents he has. He may indeed have been cocky from the start...
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 03:23 PM
Jul 8

On the whole, living 3,000 miles away from New York, he’s not been on my radar one way or another.

So far I’ve been treating his brashness much as I did when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortiz rose to prominence, got into the House, and made some stumbles — to her already-worshipful fan-base here I started saying: “I watch her career with interest” since they couldn’t bear any criticism. Any fool could see how bright and charismatic she was, and I saw great potential and hoped that potential would not be squandered. I have been SO happy to see her progress.

As for Mamdani, I have heard a couple of things that are concerning, but not enough to write him off, especially since the entities I see attacking him in a pile-on are the NYT and two old Democratic pols who are dirtied-up. I greatly distrust that set-up (cough Al Franken cough) So, from 3,000 miles away, I will watch his career with interest, and I mean that.

LeftInTX

(32,811 posts)
99. If you get a chance to see any of his mother, Mira Nair's movies, they're worth it.
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 05:13 PM
Jul 8

Mississippi Masala is a warm hearted culture clash comedy and find it fitting with "Ugandan" on his college admission application.

Salaam Bombay is the original gritty Indian realism movies.

She also made the "Perez Family", which doesn't have anything to do with India. It's a comedy about Cuban immigrants.

&ab_channel=RottenTomatoesClassicTrailers

Here is a list of her films

1988 Salaam Bombay!
1991 Mississippi Masala
1995 The Perez Family
1996 Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love
2001 Monsoon Wedding
2004 Vanity Fair
2006 The Namesake
2009 Amelia (Biopic about Amelia Aerhart)
2012 The Reluctant Fundamentalist
2016 Queen of Katwe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira_Nair

Hekate

(98,530 posts)
105. Monsoon Wedding was hers? It was overshadowed by My Big Fat Greek Wedding...
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 07:00 PM
Jul 8

I thought Monsoon Wedding was the better film, in its way. I have a copy, which I just pulled from the shelf and realized I hadn’t opened, so clearly it’s high time I watched it again.

Two episodes I remember so well — one was the courtship of the lower-caste couple, which was so heartwarming.

But the other was the dark thread of the male relative who was grooming a little girl, and how a grown woman (same age as the bride) saw his behavior and finally stopped him by slamming her hands on the trunk of his moving car. She knew him — no one had saved her from him in the long-ago, but she saved this little girl.

I haven’t seen Mira Nair’s other films, but as you can tell, this one has stayed with me ever since.

Torchlight

(5,072 posts)
106. This is July's replacement to June's "Biden's Health!" headliners.
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 07:04 PM
Jul 8

GOP, for-profit media, and useful idiots will run with it, but they'll just run into another wall again.

Diraven

(1,446 posts)
55. Just wow
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 04:13 PM
Jul 6

He checked an ambiguously-interpreted box on an application for a college he didn't even get into when he was 18, and from that one thing they conclude that it must be just the tip of the iceberg of a vast criminal conspiracy? What are these people smoking, and can I have some?

eggplant

(4,091 posts)
62. In a normal universe, you would expect Democrats to rally behind their candidate.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 05:25 PM
Jul 6

Seriously, WTF?

mainer

(12,365 posts)
63. All this makes me like Mamdani more and more
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 05:55 PM
Jul 6

When the a-holes go after you, you must be doing something right.

mcar

(44,926 posts)
78. This whole thing is silly
Mon Jul 7, 2025, 01:13 PM
Jul 7

Not a huge Mamdani fan but Adams and Cuomo are being ridiculous.

DrFunkenstein

(8,790 posts)
82. Racist POS Trump Used This To Derail Elizabeth Warren's Campaign
Mon Jul 7, 2025, 04:13 PM
Jul 7

Despite lying to Jewish people for decades that he was "Swedish" because Holocaust survivors didn't want to do real estate business with a German.

Says everything about Cuomo and Adams that they are taking straight from Trump's playbook time and time again. No wonder Mamdani is miles ahead of them in the NYC polls.

fujiyamasan

(414 posts)
87. Wow didn't realize Adams was polling behind Silwa
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 04:34 AM
Jul 8

If he dropped out, Cuomo would be very competitive making this a much closer race.

Mamdani did luck out that his competition are all running terrible campaigns, while he has been focused on the issue most important to NYers. Cuomo was a lazy campaigner. It sounds like he was entitled.

Polybius

(20,495 posts)
97. It looks like a lot of Republicans are voting for Cuomo this election
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 12:54 PM
Jul 8

I know NYC doesn't have many, but there are around 30%. Sliwa got about 28% last time around.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_New_York_City#Party_strength

no_hypocrisy

(52,242 posts)
103. Non-issue.
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 06:31 PM
Jul 8

Columbia more than likely examined his application before his interview. They admitted him and let him enroll. They didn't have to, but they did.

End of story.

Gore1FL

(22,547 posts)
104. Maybe they should call him "Pocahontas."
Tue Jul 8, 2025, 06:53 PM
Jul 8

I mean, that's the next step down this path, right?

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