Obama owes it to a frail lady's refusal to yield to history

Dubai: The United States of America is undoubtedly the most powerful and influential country in the world - a country that prides in itself as the beacon of democracy and freedom.

Now imagine you are black. You just boarded the bus to go home after an exhausting day at work.

A white man gets on and there are no more seats in the front of the bus. You grudgingly pick yourself up and move to the back of the bus. The colour of your skin is a stark reminder of your place in society - always in the back.

To think that just a little over 50 years ago, a black woman from Montgomery, Alabama faced the very same scenario, except she decided not to give up her seat.

Rosa Parks refused to vacate her seat and in essence refused to give up her fundamental civil right guaranteed in the US constitution - that all humans are created equal.

Her action was small, but significant and she would be remembered in history after the incident triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, which triggered a decision to desegregate public transport.

The civil rights movement from 1955 to 1968 involved the struggle and efforts of many blacks and forward-thinking whites to end racial discrimination and give the right of suffrage to blacks in the South.

Many people fought, suffered and sacrificed their comforts to attain what people see today as an obvious and given concept - that people should be judged on their actions and not by the colour of their skin.

The Civil Rights Movement was victorious in that it challenged deep-rooted prejudices that were remnants of America's history of slavery.

Fast forward to today when for the first time a black man is not only running for US president, but leading in the polls.

People can attribute Barack Obama's success to several factors, but the truth remains that regardless of the outcome, Obama will be remembered among the individuals who advanced the status of blacks in America.