New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism after a report revealed he identified as African American on his college application to Columbia University, despite being of Indian descent. The New York Times reported Thursday that the information came to light following a hack of Columbia University’s admissions records.
Mamdani is the son of Indian parents and was born in Uganda. After winning his primary race for the mayoral election, he described himself as “the first South Asian elected official” and “the first Muslim elected official to ever run for mayor.”
However, the report found that Mamdani does not have a history of identifying as black but admitted to marking “African American” and “Asian” on college forms. He also acknowledged doing so on other applications.
“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. “Even though these boxes are constraining, I wanted my college application to reflect who I was.”
He has also said he views himself not as an African American, but rather as “an American who was born in Africa.”
The Times, however, pointed out that at the time Mamdani applied, Columbia and other top universities were using race-conscious admissions programs. The Times noted that his self-identification as Black or African American could have given him a competitive edge in being accepted.
“The Times could not find any speeches or interviews in which Mr. Mamdani referred to himself as Black or African American,” the report stated, adding that Mamdani said the college applications were the only instances where he recalled identifying that way.
