(New York, NY) – The story first broke weeks ago on social media. Now, multiple news outlets have started reporting on it: Democratic nominee for mayor Zohran Mamdani identified himself as “Black or African American” on a college application in 2009. This was an application to Columbia University, which was ultimately rejected. The only problem? He doesn’t publicly identify himself as black. And the lauded New York Times even confirmed as much Thursday.
Will this make a dent in Mamdani’s rising political status? Somehow, I doubt it. Mamdani, who also plays fast and loose with anti-Israel rhetoric that sometimes approaches anti-Semitic sentiment — is of a protected class. Namely, anyone who identifies as “Democrat,” and who happens to be a “person of color,” can more or less claim blanket status. African, says Mamdani? Well, he was born in Uganda. African American? Well, that typically means Black — but isn’t Elon Musk an African American?
LISTEN as “Sid and Friends in the Morning” Discuss Mamdani’s college application.
Mamdani also checked “Asian” on his application to Columbia University. The New York Times cites data from a leaked database following a hacking operation. Certainly, the ethics of that information being made public can be debated. You can also debate calling Mamdani Asian, I guess. His parents are from India.
A member of the New York State Assembly, representing parts of Queens, Mamdani’s father was a professor at Columbia when his application was rejected. He ultimately attended the extremely prestigious Bowdoin College, in Maine — which costs $91,300 in tuition for the 2025-2026 academic year.
It’s all quite silly, really. Mamdani is a “man of the people” who attended a super high-end college, has rich filmmaker parents, and was once a rapper. He’s also Black, unless he’s Asian. Plus, on that Columbia application, Mamdani reportedly wrote in “Ugandan” in the space for additional background. You can never be too careful when playing identity politics.
