Overview

• Zohran Mamdani said he checked both “Black or African American” and “Asian” on his 2009 Columbia application to capture his Ugandan birth and Indian heritage while stressing he does not identify as Black
• The Times maintains it confirmed the application details directly with Mamdani and did not rely solely on hacked admissions data provided by intermediary Jordan Lasker
• Historian Brandon McEuen and other media ethicists faulted the paper for granting anonymity to a tipster known for defending eugenicist-style race-science arguments
• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined to discuss Mamdani’s racial-identity disclosure and shifted focus to New York City housing affordability and gentrification
• The episode has reignited debate over journalistic sourcing, data privacy and the challenges of fitting complex personal backgrounds into rigid racial categories