Jews, of all people, should know that bureaucratic categories rarely capture the truth of identity – not the Ashkenazim when asked to conditionally flatten into whiteness, nor the Mizrahim, when forced to fold into Ashkenazi identity. We have a long history of being forced to declare an identity, under limited terms, to satisfy a structure that has rarely meant us well. And yet, there’s been a flurry of outrage on social media following the recent publication of The New York Times article on Zohran Mamdani’s application to Columbia University and the boxes he checked within the racial demographics section.

Mamdani, an applicant born in Uganda to Indian immigrant parents, selected “Asian” and “Black or African American.” The Times clarifies, quoting Mamdani:

“[…] he did not consider himself either Black or African American, but rather ‘an American who was born in Africa.’ He said his answers on the college application were an attempt to represent his complex background given the limited choices before him, not to gain an upper hand in the admissions process.”

When given space to be more specific, Mamdani wrote in: “Ugandan.”

Naturally, his critics are having a field day, and predictably, a segment of American Jews have joined in with particular zeal, driven less by a concern for demographic integrity, and more by political anxiety concerning Mamdani’s mayoral run and his Pro-Palestinian platform.

Israeli American journalist Avi Mayer posted an Instagram story with the caption: “I grew up in Israel, I guess that makes me Asian American in Mamdaniland.”

Actually, yes. And not just in the realm of public identity, but in the confusing, complicated world of being a new American.

We can write volumes critiquing Mamdani’s politics, but mocking the terrain........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)