Jennifer Lopez was the most recent big-name celebrity to join comedian Kareem Rahma for his viral social media video series, “Subway Takes.” Her thesis statement, or take: “You have to be born in New York to be a New Yorker.” Rahma suitably responded with a loud groan.
“I know everybody wants to claim our city, but you have to be born in New York,” she says. “You have to be born in one of the five boroughs to be a New Yorker.”
On its face, perhaps in a different time and political climate, this could masquerade as a certain well-worn pride New Yorkers love to claim and argue about. But in reality it’s tone-deaf at best and nativist at worst.
What makes New York such a special, dynamic, vibrant and multicultural place is precisely that it is a city of immigrants.
Using words like “our” reinforces the idea of an in-group and an out-group — the very premise of a political administration that has made no secret about who it says “belongs” in this country and who does not. It is a major building block of the fascistic and autocratic political ideologies increasingly taking hold both here and around the world, and it’s central to the worldview espoused by President Donald Trump and MAGA supporters.
We’re seeing what happens when someone draws a line determining who belongs and who doesn’t. Trump’s rhetoric often deploys words and phrases such as “invasion” and “occupied country.” At a rally in Colorado in 2024, Trump said: “People come in, they’re very sick. Very sick. They’re coming into our country, they’re very, very sick with highly contagious disease. And they’re let into our country to infect our country.” There is a strong sense in Trump’s America that some people (read: white people) truly belong, that they are real Americans while everyone else is an invader.
What makes New York such a special, dynamic, vibrant and multicultural place is precisely that it is a city of immigrants. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (notably, not born in New York, like so many immigrants who call the city home) noted this during his fiery acceptance speech in November when he pledged, “New York will remain a city of immigrants, built by immigrants, powered by immigrants.” Throughout his campaign, he both identified and celebrated what is best about the city: It is a melting pot in which anyone and everyone is welcome, a place they can call home.