Manhattan Dems Vice-Chair Posts Racially Charged Remarks
The Portland, Oregon DSA called Mariama James's comments "Unhinged." She provided no concrete evidence for her claims.
The Vice-Chair of the Manhattan Democratic Party made a racially charged post targeting the Democratic Socialists of America on Wednesday. Mariama James made the post on her Twitter account and accused the DSA of having a “White supremacist” mindset while being “racist, anti-Black, anti-semitic, anti-East Asian.” The full post is below.
“I was asked what are my thoughts when I’m asked about DSA:
The organization itself based on its own data is over 85% White, mostly male and mostly wealthy. I’ll add to that the members share a collective White supremacist I know better for you than you know for yourself mindset. They didn’t listen to the ppl of Palestine in 2024 who wanted them to support Kamala Harris nor did they listen to Black ppl here who told them what a Trump reelection would mean for BIPOC and other marginalized communities and they didn’t listen to us in 2016 either and we ended up with a conservative SCOTUS that’s now stripping us of our constitutional rights one at a time. They are racist, anti-Black, anti-semitic, anti-East Asian non-Democrats who follow the teachings of a registered Independent who’s never passed any legislation and is the senator of the literal Whitest state in the union. They have no clue what middle, working and low income Americans need because those labels have never applied to them and if they really cared about POC, they would amplify our movements rather than try to force theirs upon us.”
James lists herself as Manhattan Dems Vice Chair on her Twitter account and this is confirmed on the MDP website. She is also listed as a District Leader for AD 65 on the District Leader webpage. James lost the recent primary election on 6/23/26 for Lower Manhattan’s 65th State Assembly District to NYC-DSA backed Illapa Sairitupac. She finished fifth of six candidates running. When asked for comment on if her recent loss to a DSA candidate had anything to do with her feelings towards DSA, James did not respond for comment.
James did not respond for comment on what her source is for DSA membership statistics, as DSA itself reportedly does not closely track member demographic data, according to a DSA source. She did not cite her sources for her claim that Palestinian people wished for American citizens to cast their votes for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. James gave no definitive rationale to explain how DSA is “over 85% White, mostly male and mostly wealthy” or “racist, anti-Black, anti-semitic, anti-East Asian.” In one of her comments on the post, she posted a picture of a Fox News graphic with a breakdown of alleged DSA membership numbers by race from five years ago. It appears James attempted to crop the graphic to obscure the source being Fox News.
The most recent primary elections in New York City on June 23rd, 2026 yield data refuting her claims. According to recent analysis by Michael Lange, DSA-endorsed Claire Valdez won every age bracket and racial group in New York’s 7th Congressional District while Darializa Avila Chevalier won black voters in the 13th District’s Harlem. According to Lange, the most predictive factor taken away from these results is less about race and more about age. This is consistent with broadly accepted knowledge from on the ground dynamics of these races.
The post faced significant blowback, with hundreds of comments and quote tweets in opposition to her remarks.
Neither the Manhattan Democratic Party or the NYC-DSA Press Office responded for comment. This story will be updated if comment is received.