BAGHDAD , Iraq ( CNN ) -- Their faces and darker skins make them look different . They are routinely called `` slave '' by the majority , whatever their profession . But Iraq 's black population hopes that Barack Obama 's rise to the White House will mark a turning point for minorities not just in the United States , but also in their country . Jalal Thiyab Thijeel quotes Barack Obama , saying it is time for `` change . '' Jalal Thiyab Thijeel , general secretary of the `` Movement of Free Iraqis , '' followed every detail of Obama 's election campaign . `` Inspiring , '' he calls it . Inspiring politically , and personally . Like Obama , Thijeel has family roots in Africa . `` We told our people , Inshalla , God willing , Obama is going to win , and if he wins , it will be a victory for all black people in the world , '' he recalls . `` We 're going to make him a model to follow . Even our old women were praying for him to win . '' When news broke that Obama had won the election , it was early in the morning of November 5 in Basra -- but Thijeel excitedly called a fellow member of his political party . It was a moment , he tells me as we talk on a street in Baghdad , that he 'll never forget . `` Now we , the dark-skinned people , feel even closer to the American people because Obama is one of us . '' Thijeel 's organization estimates there are approximately 2 million black Iraqis . The country 's total population is more than 28 million , most of them ethnic Arabs . It 's impossible to verify Thijeel 's estimate , since the government does not keep statistics on race , but there is no denying there are many black Iraqis in the southern city of Basra . Their history goes back 1,000 years to the time when Africans were brought as slaves to the south of Iraq to drain marshes and build Basra . Many Iraqis still call blacks `` abed , '' an Arabic word that means `` slave . '' Thijeel grimaces when he pronounces it . It 's demeaning , he says , and he wants the government to forbid its use . Many white Iraqis claim the word is n't meant to offend , but Thijeel says they have no idea how hurtful it is . `` I never want my son to go through this , '' he says . Watch what Obama means to some Iraqis » . He also wants his son -- and his daughters -- to have access to good jobs , something that is not the case now , he says . In Basra , many black Iraqis have menial jobs . Although no one can point to any official discrimination , there are no black members of the Iraqi parliament . The Movement of Free Iraqis was founded two years ago and on January 31 it will run the first slate of black candidates in Iraq 's modern history . Thijeel hands me the party 's documents that spell out its demands . Foremost is that the government recognize blacks as an official minority in Iraq . This is key , because power in Iraq is apportioned along ethnic , religious and even tribal lines . The party also wants an apology for slavery , although it is not asking for financial reparations . The movement also wants laws to combat racial discrimination . The party has found some nonblack political allies . Awad Al-Abdan of the National Dialogue Front says , `` There 's been social oppression for a long time . We have a tribal-based society and , according to traditions and customs , the black man is considered to have lower status . '' Some white Iraqis say that founding a political party on racial lines is divisive , especially when Iraqis of different communities need to pull together . But Thijeel , quoting Barack Obama , says it 's time for change . Although he 's speaking in Arabic , he uses the English word `` change . '' `` There 's a change in international politics , '' he tells me . `` Obama won , and not that long ago , in his country , black people were marginalized , so this event has shattered all barriers . ''
Iraqis of African descent are marginalized by society , called `` slave '' Obama 's victory makes black Iraqis feel closer to U.S. , one says . Slate of black candidates will stand for election for first time in modern Iraq .