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The Hill
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Black New Yorkers slam Zohran Mamdani over race claims on his college application
Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and the Democratic Party's newly minted candidate for mayor of New York City, found himself in some hot water last week after The New York Times reported that he claimed to be both Asian and 'Black or African American' on his college application to Columbia University. Many Black New Yorkers are not happy about that, including incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is actually Black and is running for re-election as an independent. Adams said in a statement: 'The African American identity is not a check-box of convenience. It's a history, a struggle and a lived experience. For someone to exploit that for personal gain is deeply offensive.' The conservative New York Post had a field day with the news, and interviewed numerous Black New Yorkers who described Mamdani as a fraud and a liar. This matters because Mamdani is an exciting candidate for many progressive and far-left voters, whites, and the affluent; for Black voters and the working class, Mamdani is perhaps not quite so alluring. While he easily won the Democratic mayoral primary two weeks ago, rival Andrew Cuomo, the scandal-plagued former governor of the state, performed significantly better with African-Americans. As far as Mamdani's identity goes, he was born in Uganda, but he is of Indian descent. He is an therefore African, and he is now American, but the term African-American is usually understood to mean Black — and he is definitely not Black. However, when applying to Columbia University in 2009, Mamdani checked the boxes for 'Indian' and 'Black or African-American' when asked to give information about his race and ethnicity. Mamdani openly admits to doing so, and told The Times that he thought it was the best way — though admittedly an imperfect one — to explain his background. 'Even though these boxes are constraining, I wanted my college application to reflect who I was,' said Mamdani, noting that he wrote in in 'Ugandan' when asked to provide additional info. This matters, of course, because at the time he applied to Columbia, the university practiced race-conscious admissions, which is a politically correct way of saying that they actively discriminated against certain applicants on the basis of race and in favor of others: Hispanic people, Black people, Native Americans, and so on. Checking the 'Black or African-American' box would have earned Mamdani extra points toward admission, though as an aside, Mamdani's application was ultimately rejected. Conservatives are widely sharing this story on social media, claiming that it speaks to Mamdani's character that he was deceptive about his ethnicity in order to gain an advantage. Meanwhile many Democrats think it's a nothingburger. Former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a progressive Democrat, wrote on social media that Uganda is in Africa, so it's case closed. To any Democrats who are tempted to align themselves with de Blasio's thinking, I'd ask them to consider this thought experiment: Let's say that when awarding federal contracts, the government gave special consideration on the basis of race — and a non-Black man from South Africa, when applying for the contract, checked a box claiming to be 'Black or African American.' We can even give our made-up aspiring federal contractor a name: Elon Musk. Now, I suspect Democrats would not say this was a non-story, even though South Africa is indeed a country in Africa. All that said, I have a take that may surprise some of you: I actually don't particularly blame Mamdani for doing this at all. That's because ethnicity is extremely complicated. Race, on the other hand, is essentially an imaginary concept, obsessed over by exactly two kinds of people: old school racists, and the progressive elites who run college admissions departments. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at them — at the elite left-wing institutions that incentivize people to get creative when describing the color of their skin because false value is assigned to it. This is a practice that voters reject every time they are asked to weigh in on it, and one the Supreme Court has essentially banned as of 2023. Robbie Soave is co-host of The Hill's commentary show 'Rising' and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited transcription of his daily commentary.
Politico
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Andrew Cuomo is trying to hang on to support for a general election bid
Cuomo received the backing of nearly every major union in the primary, which he used to generate an aura of inevitability. He then relied heavily on labor for his get-out-the-vote operation. Adams dropped out of the primary in April on account of a criminal bribery case that was dismissed at the behest of President Donald Trump. He is now running in the general election on an independent ballot line. Fellow independent Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor, and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa — a perennial candidate who got 28 percent of the vote four years ago — will also be on the ballot. Cuomo's name, meanwhile, will appear on an independent line regardless of whether he mounts an active challenge. Mamdani defeated Cuomo after three rounds of ranked-choice voting, 56 percent to 44 percent. Cuomo's campaign has credited Mamdani with expanding the electorate to include first-time voters and young people who cannot normally be counted on to cast a ballot in a primary. Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi in a statement said general election voters won't embrace Adams' Trump alliance or Mamdani's hard-left politics. 'Everyone is entitled to their own political opinion — we understand President Trump supports Eric Adams, and do not believe socialism is the answer,' Azzopardi said. 'Most New Yorkers are not Trumpers, and most New Yorkers are not socialists — the majority lies in the middle. We will continue to assess the current situation in the best interest of the people of the city of New York.' Cuomo's general election pitch, in part, is that a November electorate will be different than a closed party primary. A general election will turn out independents and Republicans who could be persuaded to vote for the moderate former governor over Mamdani and Adams, Cuomo's team has asserted. Ranked-choice voting, which Cuomo did not utilize as a strategy after being endorsed by fellow mayoral candidate Jessica Ramos, will not be used in the general election. Adams and Cuomo share a base that includes Black New Yorkers, Jewish voters and blue-collar people who live outside Manhattan. In one phone call with a state lawmaker, Cuomo acknowledged Adams' presence in the race would make a November victory harder to achieve.
Black America Web
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Black America Web
Mamdani Meets With Black New Yorkers In Harlem
Source: MEGA / Getty Last Saturday (June 28), the presumptive Democratic candidate for New York City's mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani, appeared at the Harlem headquarters for the National Action Network. It was the second time that Mamdani spoke before the civil rights organization, having done so in the final days before voting ended. NAN president Reverend Al Sharpton and lauded filmmaker Spike Lee sat behind Mamdani as he spoke, and they met with Mamdani privately after the conference was held. The appearance is a pivotal one for Mamdani, a New York state assemblyman and democratic socialist who has energized the political discourse by defeating former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the primary race. A closer look at his victory numbers by The City showed that he won 52% of the first-place ranked-choice votes in areas of the city where more than half the population was Asian. But Cuomo had an overwhelming lead of 59% to 26% in precincts where 70% or more of the population is Black, signaling a divide despite Mamdani's expansion of the electorate. 'They say that Mamdani and Lander endorsed each other, so against the Black woman,' Sharpton said of Mamdani's cross-endorsement of the city comptroller over city councilwoman Adrienne Adams a week earlier. 'Something about that politics ain't progressive to me.' But Sharpton appeared to be more open-minded if not outwardly endorsing Mamdani on this visit. 'We should give credit that this man has energized our young voters, has brought in new voters and has made the city have to deal with some issues,' Sharpton said after Mamdani arrived. 'We all ought to thank him and listen to what he has to say.' 'The more he's out here and community members get to know him, the better he will be received,' local Democratic leader Alyah Horsford-Sidberry said to the New York Times . 'They've just got to get to know him and see him at more events like this. What's important, though, is that his concerns are the community's concerns.' But there seems to be more willingness in the Black community to listen to what Mamdani is offering, but hope he can follow through. '[A]re you able if you win in November to go from aspiration to reality?' senior pastor Dabar Bethlehem Cathedral H. Curtis Douglas said, adding: 'He's going to have to convince people in the next five months that he can deliver.' SEE ALSO Mamdani Meets With Black New Yorkers In Harlem was originally published on
West Australian
26-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Raymond Da Silva Rosa: Housing affordability forcing Blacks out of Liberal States
A recent New York Times report that 'housing affordability and quality of life concerns are pushing longtime Black New Yorkers out of the city' exemplifies a startling reality in the US. Liberal US cities and States such as New York and California, which are most likely to support causes such as Black Lives Matter, are also those with declining Black populations. The decline is because Blacks are leaving for 'red States'; Republican party dominated Trump strongholds, where housing is more affordable, and they can have a higher standard of living. Equally surprising is economist Noah Smith's report that fervently Trump-supporting red State Texas, an oil-producing State with a conservative culture, has built more solar energy capacity than liberal California, a deep blue State. Two recent books, Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson and We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of New Elite by sociologist Musa Al-Gharbi, provide much the same explanation as to how the surprising development came about: in essence, many well educated and well off US citizens are liberal in principle but self-interested in practice. Here's Al-Gharbi's take on the housing crisis: 'Although relatively affluent, highly educated white liberals are among the strongest proponents of affordable housing in principle, they often adopt a 'not in my backyard' position with regard to their own communities. Studies have consistently found that as cities trend increasingly left, denizens tend to choke off new housing development'. Here's Klein and Thompson's analysis of the same issue: 'Liberals might detest the language that Trump and Vance use to demonise immigrants. But blue America practices its own version of scarcity politics. Zoning regulations in liberal States and cities that restrict housing supply have increased costs far more than the recent influx of immigrants'. As for solar energy, long and expensive delays in getting through regulatory roadblocks designed to protect local interests are a principal reason California has fallen behind Texas in installing mega solar energy projects. The US's intense culture war between liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans has no Australian equivalent but it is striking that just about all the many and varied problems described by Klein, Thompson and Al-Gharbi are familiar to us in Australia, including most prominently, the housing affordability crisis. It's not a stretch to appreciate the issues have arisen for the same reason: our unwillingness to acknowledge and accept necessary trade offs in making policies, that is, wanting to have our cake and eat it too. Reading Abundance can feel like receiving friendly fire if you lean left because it's obvious both Klein and Thompson are blue State liberals who wish to salvage the brand. In contrast, We Have Never Been Woke comes across as distinctly unfriendly and precisely targeted artillery. This narrative overlooks the role of liberal policies in creating his popularity. Klein and Thompson report that 'in the 2024 election, Donald Trump won by shifting almost every part of America to the right. But the signal Democrats should fear most is that the shift was largest in blue States and blue cities — the places where voters were most exposed to the day-to-day realities of liberal governance'. My guess is that it would be good in the present circumstance for those of us on the left to bear in mind the excellent advice when one is in a bad relationship: you can't change other people, you can only change yourself. The 'good news' in both books mentioned is that there seems to be a lot of scope for us to change for the better. Winthrop Professor Raymond Da Silva Rosa is an expert in finance from The University of Western Australia's Business School.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Brooklyn born and raised: NYC mayoral candidate Sen. Zellnor Myrie
The Brief New York State Sen. Zellnor Myrie is one of several candidates running for New York City mayor. Myrie represents the 20th Senate District, which includes a range of neighborhoods in Central Brooklyn. An Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey revealed that 4.8 percent of voters support Myrie. NEW YORK CITY - New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie is one of the Democrats running for New York City mayor – here's a breakdown on the senator. The backstory Born to two Costa Rican immigrants, Myrie was raised in Prospect Lefferts Gardens in Brooklyn. He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and has a degree in Urban Studies from Fordham University. MORE: Meet the candidates running for NYC mayor: List After graduating from Fordham, Myrie worked as Legislative Director for City Councilmember Fernando Cabrera. He left the City Council to pursue a law degree at Cornell Law School. Myrie was elected to the State Senate in 2018, serving the 20th Senate District – he is still the senator representing that district. What we know Sen. Myrie announced his run for New York City's mayoral office on Dec. 3, 2024. MORE: 2025 NYC primaries coverage An Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey released on May 28 revealed that 4.8 percent of voters support Myrie. "Rebuild NYC" is Myrie's plan to build "one million homes" in New York City – this would entail building 70,000 homes and creating "New Neighborhoods" from underutilized land. Click to open this PDF in a new window. Myrie also has an education-focused plan that would include universal afterschool guarantee, expanded hours for 3-K and Pre-K and universal summer youth employment – an expansion on the city's current Summer Youth Employment Program. MORE: Notable endorsements for NYC mayoral candidates The senator also has a plan to specifically address Black New Yorkers: "Black Agenda for NYC." This agenda includes "tackling the racial wealth gap," as well as investing in black maternal and reproductive health and supporting small businesses, among other things. The Source This article includes information from Senator Zellnor Myrie's mayoral campaign website, results from the 2018 election and an Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey.
