New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani gave an unequivocal defense of the diversity, equity and inclusion policies, also known as DEI, that President Donald Trump has targeted for elimination on Nov. 12.
Speaking at the ribbon cutting for the National Urban League's new headquarters in New York, the 34-year-old political phenom hailed the civil rights organization's mixed-use project as "befitting of the legacy greatness that so many Black New Yorkers have built here in Harlem."
"It is Black-owned in a time when we are being taught as if the words DEI are that of a slur, when in fact what they are is a representation of the fulfillment of the ideals that make so many proud to be New Yorkers," Mamdani said to cheers and claps from the majority-Black crowd.
While Trump has assailed DEI as "tyranny," Mamdani was not the only speaker at the event to unapologetically defend the concept.
"In this political climate where civil rights protections are under attack and being rolled back and programs to promote diversity, equity and inclusion by some are being dismantled, let this stand as a beacon," National Urban League President Marc Morial said, referring to the new building.
