The meaning of Mamdani
As a Muslim woman, and after the hurt of the post-9/11 attacks on my community, Zohran Mamdani's historic win in the New York City mayor's race is sweet, and personal
New York City just made history and delivered a resounding rebuke to Donald Trump’s version of America.
At a time when vilifying immigrants is the norm; ICE agents regularly round up and detain people (including citizens), and a climate of vicious othering, division and plain old racism has permeated the nation, New York City said: not in our name. As the city that has long-served as the arrival point for immigrants, featuring the literal Statue of Liberty, New York lived up to its creed by electing its first Muslim mayor; a naturalized American of South Asian descent, whose family lived in Uganda prior to the States. In short: Zohran Mamdani is as a bridge between many worlds - just like this great bustling city itself.
While many discounted Mamdani’s bid for Mayor, he hit the pavement and met with every single community. He listened to their concerns and built a remarkable campaign centered on affordability and improving the lives of every day New Yorkers. He and his team engaged in an impressive social media blitz, built support at the grassroots level, recruited tens of thousands of volunteers and got young folks excited and involved. He spoke to the issues, met people where they were and did it all with a smile and a selfie. Despite the predictable anti-Muslim attacks against him, Mamdani proved that maybe, just maybe, people would see him for his humanity and what he stood for, and not the bigoted agenda of others. As such, his victory symbolizes a historic moment for Muslims in New York City (which now comprise nearly a million people) and for Muslims around the country. Perhaps, we’ve finally arrived.
WATCH: Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech:
Twenty-four years ago, New York City suffered the most horrific terrorist attack; killing nearly 3,000 innocent souls. It was one of the worst periods in the city’s history, and for the nation as a whole. People from every age range, every demographic possible, from various countries, comprising a multitude of ethnicities - and yes - religions, perished when those towers were struck and came crashing down. Included among the casualties were many Muslims, a key fact often overlooked and dismissed in coverage of 9/11 even decades later. In fact, Salman Hamdani, a Pakistani American first responder who rushed to the scene to help and was killed that day, was first presumed to be one of the attackers, rather than a victim. For most Muslims, it was guilty till proven innocent.
In the days, weeks and months following those unimaginable attacks, hundreds of Muslim men were rounded up and detained. Countless Muslims were placed on ‘watch lists’ and ‘do not fly lists’, and the NYPD built an entire surveillance unit to spy on the community that extended beyond the city. Mosques were vandalized, Muslim women had their hijabs ripped off of their heads, many families placed American flags on their vehicles and outside their homes to prevent attacks, and sadly, incidents of hate crimes skyrocketed. There were assaults, beatings, acts of vandalism and even murder. Because racists aren’t the brightest apple in the bunch, they even mistook Sikh men wearing turbans as Muslim, and therefore hate crimes against that community increased tremendously as well. I remember interviewing a grieving Sikh wife for a local paper in New Jersey whose husband was murdered because he wore a turban; I sometimes think about what happened to their daughter who was only a small child at the time.
For Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim, there was a sense of constant fear either for yourself or your loved ones. It’s what Mamdani addressed himself when he spoke of his aunt – who yes, he called aunt because that is what we call elders who may not even be related to us. Following 9/11, our loyalty and patriotism was constantly questioned. When people speak of the great unity that emerged following that tragic day, they clearly never listened to the Muslim community, which experienced a completely different response.
I myself recall someone spitting on the ground towards me in the days following the attacks, someone yelling ‘go back to where you came from’ on the 6 train going uptown, employers hanging up the phone on me when I said my name, various glares and stares as people tried to figure out ‘where I was from’, and an overall climate of unease and tension. Many Muslims and immigrants were constantly looking over their shoulders, worried about family and friends, and yes, even fearful of riding the train.
The Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment that permeated following the 9/11 attacks didn’t just dwindle away, either. Instead, it was weaponized over and over again to justify war with a sovereign nation that had nothing to do with any of it, drone campaigns in several countries, other covert actions and interventions, draconian laws like the Patriot Act and NSA surveillance, and of course to win elections here at home. In 2010, the right-wing drummed up an entire fear campaign about the ‘ground zero mosque’, which in reality was more like the Muslim version of a YMCA. I covered some of the ‘ground zero mosque’ protests and interviewed people who said the most vile anti-Muslim stuff right to my face, having no idea that I too am Muslim.
When Donald Trump ran for the Presidency in 2015, I predicted early on that he would win. It wasn’t just the endless free media coverage that he received, or his reality show theatrics that convinced me he had a real shot, but rather, it was when he said he wanted to ban all Muslims from entering the country. In addition to his own bigoted comments, it was the response from his supporters and the normalization of such a statement in many mainstream news outlets that brought the sober realization that he was going to win. In other words, so many either agreed with him, or were ok with someone openly making such remarks about an entire group of people. The fact that more than a decade on after 9/11, such anti-Muslim bigotry could be uttered from a man seeking the highest office in the land – who by the way went on to win the Presidency and one of his first acts was to follow through on trying to implement said ban – spoke volumes about the pervasiveness of Islamophobia that still exists.
Fast-forward a decade and we find ourselves in the current moment where New York City (the greatest city on earth, hands down) has elected its first ever Muslim Mayor. Despite running an incredible campaign on a strong message of livable wages and affordable housing, Mamdani was still subjected to the most xenophobic anti-Muslim smears that one could imagine. From some posting images of the towers burning (Zohran was all of 9 years old when 9/11 happened), to supposed elected officials saying Mamdani is a ‘jihadist’, and many openly calling for his deportation. Sadly, none of this is surprising in the least, and anyone who has paid even a semblance of attention these last two decades should have fully expected it.
What’s perhaps astounding however, in the best way possible, is that none of it worked. Voters rejected the tactics of fear and the open racism. They said no to the tired old demonization of Muslims, and they instead said yes to the fresh voice with a bold vision for the future. While the disgusting attacks against Mamdani and the community at large will undoubtedly continue (if not increase), the fact that we have even reached this point, where a Muslim of South Asian descent is Mayor of one of the most powerful cities in the world, is a remarkable feat. As a daughter of South Asian Muslim immigrants, I can honestly say that I never thought I would see this day in my lifetime.
Mamdani embodies so much hope and inspiration in this moment of great uncertainty, turmoil and downright cruelty emanating from the highest levels of government. He is the dream come to fruition of every immigrant to this country; that either they or their children go on to achieve tremendous accomplishments. It’s the reason why so many give up their families, friends, neighborhoods, language and everything they’ve ever known to come here in the first place. Mamdani’s win is a win for all immigrants at a time when they are maligned in the most inhumane and cruel manner by those in power.
For the American Muslim community, Mamdani represents an even bigger symbol: proof that despite the prejudice that still exists, there is still hope for us to be included, for our voices to be heard, and for us to be viewed as individuals, rather than some one-dimensional collective, painted with a broad brush. In essence, Mamdani’s win is evidence that two decades on from an environment of extreme anti-Muslim fervor, a Muslim can ascend to Mayor of New York City and win by a landslide.
It is, as someone once aptly coined, the audacity of hope. For all the aunties and uncles out there - and their children - Zohran Mamdani is that hope personified.
is a producer on The Joy Reid Show
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Congratulations to Mamdoni 👊🏽👊🏽
He will be a transformative mayor of the greatest city in the world. Well done NYC.