Mamdani spoke of his aunt’s fear after 9/11. Backlash revealed how Islamophobia persists

This story was originally reported by Shefali Luthra of The 19th. Meet Shefali and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy.

A speech by New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani — and the conservative reaction to it — highlight how Muslim women are specifically targeted during times of heightened Islamophobia or anti-Arab sentiment.

“I want to speak to the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab,” Mamdani, the city’s Democratic mayoral nominee and likely next mayor, said Friday in a speech on Islamophobia. “I want to speak to the Muslim who works for our city whether they teach in our schools or walk the beat for the NYPD.”

Mamdani used the speech to decry what he called anti-Muslim attacks by his po