{"id":583,"date":"2026-08-12T14:44:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=583"},"modified":"2026-08-12T14:44:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:44:35","slug":"nyc-dsa-is-60-white-internal-survey-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=583","title":{"rendered":"NYC-DSA is 60% white, internal survey says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The demographic make-up of the Democratic Socialists of America, and particularly its New York City chapter, has become a major topic of conversation in six weeks since the DSA-backed congressional candidates Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier won their Democratic primary elections in June.<\/p>\n

Read more New poll shows race for governor tightening<\/a><\/p>\n

Political commentators \u2013 and politicians who found themselves on the opposite side of NYC-DSA \u2013 have suggested the socialist organization is practicing a kind of white supremacy by challenging Black and Latino incumbents like Rep. Adriano Espaillat. Of course, the victorious DSA candidates are also usually people of color \u2013 for instance, Avila Chevalier is Afro-Latina, while Valdez is Latina and a citizen of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Nation, a Native American tribe \u2013 but DSA\u2019s critics have suggested that these non-white candidates merely serve as a smokescreen for an organization made up largely of white gentrifiers.<\/p>\n

The last time that DSA did a comprehensive demographic survey of its membership was in 2021. That survey found that 85% of DSA\u2019s nationwide membership identified as white \u2013 a statistic that is now routinely cited as evidence of NYC-DSA\u2019s lack of racial diversity, despite being a half-decade out of date and including all DSA members across the country rather than just members of the New York City chapter.<\/p>\n

Both DSA and NYC-DSA have experienced an incredible degree of turnover since that survey was conducted. In July 2021, DSA had about 76,000 dues-paying members across the country, with NYC-DSA having about 7,600 members. By July 2024, DSA had dropped to 52,000 members and NYC-DSA to 5,700 members. Just two years later, DSA has more than 120,000 members and NYC-DSA\u2019s total membership exceeds 15,000.<\/p>\n

NYC-DSA recently compiled a demographic report based on years of internal demographic data. That report, which was shared with City & State, shows that 60% of the group\u2019s active members identify as white.<\/p>\n

The data comes from optional surveys that DSA offers to all members when they join the organization, which includes a question about which of the following races and ethnicities they identify as: White, Jewish, Hispanic\/Latinx, Black\/of African descent, Asian, South Asian, West Asian\/Middle Eastern, Native American\/Indigenous, Pacific Islander and Other.<\/p>\n

NYC-DSA said that 63% of its 15,600 members chose to fill out the optional survey, which provides a strong demographic sample, but falls short of a comprehensive census.<\/p>\n

Read more Talks underway to settle 9\/11 World Trade Center air quality records fight<\/a><\/p>\n

In total, 60% of survey respondents identified as white, 12% as Jewish, 14% as Hispanic, 9% as Black, 10% as Asian, 5% as South Asian, 4% as Middle Eastern, 2% as Native American and less than 1% as Pacific Islander. Members were allowed to choose more than one identity, such as white and Jewish or Black and Hispanic.<\/p>\n

The demographic data suggests that NYC-DSA is less racially diverse than both the national Democratic Party and the population of New York City. According to the Pew Research Center, the Democratic Party was roughly 56% white, 18% Black, 14% Hispanic and 6% Asian in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available. The U.S. Census estimates that the population of New York City last year was roughly 34% white, 22% Black, 29% Hispanic and 15% Asian.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the report also suggests that NYC-DSA is gradually becoming less white, with 57% of members who joined NYC-DSA since Jan. 1, 2026 (and opted to fill out the survey) identifying as white. As for the national organization, a DSA spokesperson told City & State that 67% of members who had joined DSA in the past year (and filled out the optional demographic survey) identified as white.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Asked in a radio interview with Clay Cane last week about DSA being \u201ca white movement,\u201d Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who calls DSA his political home, credited the socialist group with providing a path to political leadership for non-white organizers.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I’ve appreciated about New York City DSA,\u201d he said, \u201cis that it has been one of the engines behind the creation of a new generation of Black and Brown leadership, the likes (of which) we haven’t seen in quite some time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Taking a page from Zeldin, Blakeman makes his pitch to East Asian voters<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But the newest members of the Democratic Socialists of America are (slightly) more racially diverse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,20,45],"tags":[79,21,46],"class_list":["post-583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dsa","category-new-york-city","category-zohran-mamdani","tag-dsa","tag-new-york-city","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"yoast_head":"\nNYC-DSA is 60% white, internal survey says - Business Relocation Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=583\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NYC-DSA is 60% white, internal survey says - 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