If you saw Brown people staring at their phones and calling out “wah, wah” within the last few days, I can tell you they were likely South Asians expressing their delight and admiration.
Desis in the Chicago area and their counterparts elsewhere have been circulating a popular mayoral candidate’s campaign video in Hindi/Urdu that features mango lassi, a cheeky tribute to Bollywood and an old political slogan from the Indian subcontinent that emphasizes the importance of providing food, clothes and shelter to all citizens.
My kinfolk aren’t gushing over a candidate for mayor of Chicago — neither Brandon Johnson, nor challengers hoping to unseat the progressive incumbent at 121 N. LaSalle St. have been showing off their Duolingo swagger. Chicagoans won’t vote for their next mayor until 2027, so hopefuls still have some time to take notes and learn from a contender to our east.
It is in New York City where Zohran Mamdani has been burning up the polls — and social media feeds — and setting fire to the notion that a Muslim democratic socialist who is critical of Israel could never attract interest from voters.
Most recent polls show Mamdani, a state assemblyman, a few points behind former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has the backing of billionaire elites, including deep-pocketed Donald Trump supporters, some of the Rockefellers and wealthy former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
At least one voter survey unveiled Wednesday had Mamdani, 33, leading Cuomo after a key endorsement from U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
I am well aware that polling isn’t an exact science, and a lot can change before June 24, when New Yorkers cast their ballots using the ranked choice system in the city’s Democratic mayoral primary.
In this climate — when many elected officials and plenty of voters are more set off by any expression of support for Palestinians than the multiple sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo — the only scenario I’m banking on is the escalation of xenophobic smears against Mamdani.
A Republican member of the New York City Council has already suggested the Uganda-born Mamdani be deported.
And just a few days back, a proposed — and later rejected — pro-Cuomo super PAC mailer surfaced with an image of Mamdani altered to give him a darker, bushier beard.
“This wasn’t an accident,” Mamdani said in a statement, adding the filtered picture played “into racist tropes” and was intended to make him look “threatening.”
I expect nothing less.
“Racism, or as they say nowadays, tradition, gets passed down like recipes,” as Denzel Washington’s character noted in the critically acclaimed 1991 film “Mississippi Masala,” directed by Mamdani’s mother, Mira Nair.
The good news is that a growing number of Americans don’t want to eat off a restrictive menu.
I actually learned of Mamdani through a food-related clip the former rapper known as Mr. Cardamom posted this year about New York’s “halalflation” — the high costs of halal cart grub, exacerbated by pricey permits for street vendors.
Since then, from miles away, I have been paying attention to Mamdani’s surge, partly because of our shared Indian heritage and religious background.
I’m sure many other South Asians felt vindicated when Mamdani called out Cuomo for repeatedly butchering his name at Thursday’s debate.
Mamdani also expressed the thoughts of many Muslims after the 67-year-old Cuomo said he had to “check the record” to confirm whether he had ever visited a mosque, then went on to call Mamdani “antisemitic” and “divisive.”
“The reason he (Cuomo) doesn’t have a message for Muslim New Yorkers is because he has nothing to say to us, because he doesn’t see us as if we are every other New Yorker,” Mamdani said.
Shabash! (That’s “well done” or “bravo” for readers too lazy to look it up.)
Mamdani’s rise is proof a significant number of Democratic voters have grown tired of the old guard continually offering up an out-of-touch white boomer or a slightly younger person of color who is just as clueless.
These voters — many of them young or part of the working-class and immigrant communities — aren’t scared by a darker-complected man who has described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocidal.
War and violence are also on their minds, but they’re also worried about not being able to pay rent.
Mamdani’s pledges of free buses, free child care, a rent freeze and city-run grocery stores might not all be feasible. But his passion for addressing New York’s affordability crisis is resonating.
When Joe Biden was named the Democratic presidential nominee in 2020, my brother-in-law likened the veteran lawmaker’s appeal to a reliable and familiar “old brown shoe.”
.
Five years later, Trump-averse Americans in New York, Chicago and others parts of the country are itching for new footwear.
You can’t beat fascists at their game with holes in your kicks. Start spreading the news.
Rummana Hussain is a columnist and leads the opinion coverage at the Sun-Times.
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