With Obama as their hero, African Iraqis aim for political power

Over a million African Iraqis live in the country. Yet unlike other ethnic groups, they are not recognised as a legitimate minority, nor are they represented in Parliament. Despite some politicians’ protests that there is no racism in Iraq and that affirmative action is not necessary, activists in the area are hoping that the coming elections might change this.

There are an estimated 1.5 million African Iraqis in Iraq today and with these coming elections, the group has not yet given up on the idea of representation in Parliament and recognition as a legitimate minority in the country.

That means we make up about 5 percent of the population, says Uday al-Sadoun, a member of the Movement of Free Iraqis, or Ansar Al Huriyah, a political party formed by African-Iraqi activist, Jalal Thiyab, who was assassinated last April. Thiyab was often referred to as “the Martin Luther King of Iraq”. Pictures of King and another hero for African Iraqis, Barack Obama, hang in the organisation’s offices.

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With Obama as their hero, African Iraqis aim for political power