“In July, several reporters contacted me to comment upon the New York Times story about Zohran Mamdani marking both “Asian” and “African American” on his college admission forms. The story broke just as Mamdani won the New York City primary mayoral race and seemed poised to win the upcoming November election. His campaign—and its Democratic Socialist platform to make the city affordable for all New Yorkers—is a beacon of hope for many progressives concerned about developing successful opposition to the ascendancy of right-wing politics.

Mamdani responded by explaining that although he did not identify as Black he was attempting to convey both his Asian identity and African continental origins on the form (which the Times acquired thanks to a white supremacist hack). Prior to this moment, most voters had seen Mamdani primarily in terms of his racial and religious identity, as South Asian and Muslim.

Americans misunderstand Mamdani’s “Asian African,” (born in Uganda, raised in South Africa and the U.S.), or “mix masala,” identity. To untangle it can teach us about South Asian and African diasporas and push us to reframe our thinking around the constraints of U.S. racial categories.”

Continue reading: https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/mamdani-mississippi-masala-mayors-race/