N.J. Burkett: At the end of this week, you have two Republicans invoking 9/11 and saying that the enemy is at the gate. Is this what Islamophobia looks like?
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: It is. It is, and I think it’s — what makes it so concerning, frankly, is not that these are words being said about me, but frankly that these are words being said about a million or so Muslims who call this city their home. And for far too long, Muslim New Yorkers have been made to feel as if to be Muslim and to be a New Yorker are somehow two identities in tension. And we know that they can be one and the same. I live that every day. A million or so people live that every day. And they have been made to feel as if it can’t be the case.
Burkett: I’ve seen you get emotional in the past when talking about your faith and talking about the ways in which people have disparaged you in particular. How do you handle those moments? How do you keep it in?
Mayor Mamdani: It’s difficult. I think what fortifies me is the knowledge that this isn’t just about myself. This is about so many others. And as the mayor of this city, I’m supposed to lead a place of 8.5 million people who call it home and ensure that everyone who calls this city home understands themselves as belonging.
Burkett: I understand you want to say that it’s not about you. How do you not view it also as directly against you personally?
Mayor Mamdani: I’ll say there are critiques when you’re the mayor of the city. You’ll receive everything. When the critiques are due to your policies or your views, you can stomach them. You have to be able to engage with them. What we’re talking about are critiques on the basis of our faith. And those are critiques that extend to so many more people. And they’re frankly not just critiques. We’re talking about racism and bigotry. And to accept that, to turn a blind eye to it — it’s to allow for that kind of an animus to fester. And it takes a toll. It does. It makes you feel as if you’re lonely in the place that you know as your home. You’re isolated within it. But then there’s an event like last night where we had an iftar where we broke our fast with hundreds of Muslim city workers. And they feel the same kind of pressure to compress themselves into a box as if they can’t be their whole self in the city when they go home.
Burkett: Does this make you feel as if you are expected to somehow apologize for your faith?
Mayor Mamdani: I think there are some who would love if I did so, but they will always be disappointed. Because I will never apologize for who I am, for my faith and for the fact that there are so many more like me in this city, and what unites all of us is the fact that we’re New Yorkers.
Burkett: And you believe they draw inspiration from the way you practice Islam in public in public? You do it very publicly.
Mayor Mamdani: I can tell you I draw inspiration from that. I’ll leave them to answer the question that you posed. But when it comes to me, sitting yesterday across from a special education teacher, just one seat over from someone who works in NYCHA, another seat over from an assistant principal, these are all New Yorkers for whom this has been their reality for their whole life.
And yet they have never seen themselves recognized. And our goal is not to have a city where anyone feels more than anyone else on the basis of their faith. It’s just to have a city where everyone understands that their belonging to any faith does not discriminate against their ability to be a New Yorker.
Burkett: And you choose to practice your faith in a very public way. That’s deliberate, isn’t it?
Mayor Mamdani: Well, I mean, I’m fasting and people ask me about it, so I have to be honest about it. I think so often people have become accustomed to hiding parts of our faith. But just by being honest about it, it feels distinct. And I think what we want is a city where people can celebrate every aspect of their heritage.
I’m here right now celebrating with Irish Americans about St. Patrick’s Day. And it’s such an opportunity to celebrate that distinct history, that distinct community. And to do so is not to denigrate any other community; it’s to celebrate the differences that make the city so special.
Burkett: Final question for you: in your private moments, do you despair over a lot of what’s been said?
Mayor Mamdani: I despair over what has come to be accepted as political discourse, over what has become normalized — that we have sitting U.S. senators who feel comfortable enough to juxtapose a photo of me sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Blue Room with a photo of the worst terrorist attack in our city’s history. That, I think, is worthy of despair. And I think it requires all of us to speak of a vision that we have of a city and of a country where we do not call for the expulsion of people on the basis of their faith. We instead seek to create, in the words of David Dinkins, “a gorgeous mosaic” that has room for every single one of us.
Burkett: In a sentence, if you can, can you reflect on this past week? This has been quite a week, Mayor.
Mayor Mamdani: It has been a difficult week, and yet, as always, I have found my inspiration in [inaudible] Thank you.
Burkett: I appreciate your time. Thank you.
Mayor Mamdani: I really appreciate it.
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