Zohran Mamdani and the NY Mayoral Race

Have you been following the NY Mayoral race? We have been in our household. I was trained as an Africanist at the University of Florida beginning in 2007, and one of the core texts in the field was (and still is) Mahmoud Mamdani's Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism. Just before I began graduate school in 2005, Mamdani published another work, a powerful critique of War on Terror discourse titled Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, The Cold War and the Roots of Terror. As my own work centered War on Terror discourse, Mamdani's elegant (if challenging to read) work was indispensable.

Mamdani's son, Zohran, entered the NY Mayoral race as an unknown candidate to all but those of us who know his father. He was seen as an unlikely success in the race, not only because of his lack of name recognition, but because he chose to run as a democratic socialist on a platform of making the city more affordable for its residents. Nevertheless, by using social media and going repeatedly and directly to voters, he built a broad coalition and dramatically increased the youth vote in the primary, cruising to an easy victory in the Democratic primary. The election will be held November 4th of this year.

Since his stunning and decisive victory a few weeks ago, Islamaphobia has reared its ugly head with ridiculous claims being made about the candidate. The actress Debra Messing (a democrat) claimed that Mamdani celebrated 9/11 (though he was nine years old that day). Right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer suggested on X that New York would experience another 9/11 if Mamdani was elected. Republican representative Andy Ogles wrote to the Department of Justice requesting that Mamdani's citizenship be revoked and for him to be deported.

Their argument is essentially that Mamdani is "the bad kind of Muslim." His opposition to the Israeli war in Gaza is given as evidence that he supports Islamic terrorism, conveniently ignoring the many human rights organizations and Israeli politicians who have drawn similar conclusions (see for example Ehud Olmert's interview on the Ezra Klein show or his recent article "Enough is Enough: Israel is Committing War Crimes"). Mamdani also refuses to denounce the term "globalize the intifada" a phrase that has long been used by pro-Palestinian activists.

The accusations that Mamdani is the bad kind of Muslim miss the irony that it was Mamdani's father who first detailed this desire to divide Muslims into the categories "good" and "bad,' a development that followed the 9/11 attacks on the United States. He explains succinctly in this excerpt:

Now those opposed to Mamdani's son in the mayoral race are putting him through the same paces that Muslims faced after 9/11. He is presumed guilty until he proves himself innocent. He has to demonstrate he is a "good Muslim" that does not support terrorism. His concern for the lives of Palestinians is the primary evidence wielded against him. I was dismayed when even Leila Fadl, the esteemed Lebanese American NPR reporter, pushed Mamdani repeatedly in an extended interview over his good Muslim credentials. While I certainly don't mind politicians being pushed to articulate and clarify their positions, the double-standard to which Mamdani has been subjected is impossible to ignore. Politicians with much more far-reaching power and influence are virtually never subject to 37-minute grilling interviews, though I wish they were.

Through it all, Mamdani takes questions with grace, claiming that it is his responsibility to convince voters that he is trustworthy. And while I appreciate his positivity and commitment to doing what appears to be required to win over new voters, I can't help but feel enraged at the treatment of Muslims in this country since 9/11, even twenty-four years later.

In the conclusion to my book Bureaucratizing Islam: Morocco and the War on Terror, I lamented the impact that War on Terror discourse has had on the Islamic scholarly tradition and on Muslims in particular. I concluded, "The Moroccan case suggests how much is being lost in the name of fighting terror, and it is only the tip of the iceberg." I fear that no one is documenting all that has been lost, not only for Muslims, but also for the country we could have been if we had made different choices after 9/11. What is clear is that more than twenty years after his father published the leading critique of War on Terror discourse, Zohran Mamdani finds himself constantly asserting what a good Muslim he is.

Mahmoud Mamdani ended the Acknowledgements for his book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, with a prophecy of sorts about his son. He wrote, "I hope that this book will help to celebrate [his mother's] Ammy's life and make some of its lessons available to, among others, our son Zohran, and his mates in Kampala and Cape Town, New York and New Delhi, and Dar-es-Salam. I close with the comforting thought that, together, they will no doubt remake the world they inherit from us."

It is clear that Zohran Mamdani has a vision of a world that he would like to create, a world where New York City's resources are spent to make it more affordable for its residents, but how much of his time will he have to spend asserting that he is a good Muslim before he can get there?

Suheir Hammad, the Palestinian American poet, gets the last word. Her poem First Writing Since expresses rage at the vilification of Muslims in the wake of 9/11. Her Def Jam poetry reading of the poem, linked below, should be essential viewing for every American. Listen for these lines:

"One more person ask me if I knew the hijackers.

One more mother fucker ask me what navy my brother is in.

One more person assume no Arabs or Muslims were killed,

Assume they know me,

Or that I represent a people,

Or that a people represent an evil,

Or that evil is as simple as a flag and words on a page.

We did not vilify all white men when McVeigh bombed Oklahoma,

Give out his family’s address or church or blame the Bible or Pat fucking Robertson...

I don’t give a fuck about bin Laden.

His vision of the world don’t represent me or those I love.

I’ve signed petitions for years to out the U.S.-sponsored Taliban.

Shit is complicated, and I don’t know what to think,

But I know who will pay:

Women

Mostly colored and poor,

Will have to bury children, support themselves through grief.

In America, it will be those amongst us who refuse

Blanket attacks on the shivering, who work towards social justice

And opposing hateful policies.

“Either you are with us

Or with the terrorists,”

Meaning

“Keep your people under control

And resistance-censored,”

Meaning

“We got the loot

And the nukes.”

Hammad offers an alternative to the you're either with us or with the terrorists. She asserts,

"You’re either with life

Or against it.

Affirm life."

I personally have not in my lifetime seen a politician as vibrant and life affirming as Zohran Mamdani. Beyond our shared ideological positions, I am impressed by his tone, his proactivity, and by his humility. After receiving death threats, he walked the length of Manhattan. He stops for selfies with adoring fans.

I don't get a vote in NY's mayoral race, but if I did, it would be for Zohran Mamdani. And it wouldn't be because he is a good Muslim. It would be because he is a damn good politician and I want to see what he can do.