The Value of Color: Spain’s Equality Stamps Fiasco

Is Blackness worth less than whiteness Spain’s postal service seems to think so. In 2021, Correos launched a collection of four skin-toned stamps whose value decreased as they darkened. Released precisely on the first anniversary of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police in the United States and in conjunction with European Diversity Month, the stamps, known as Equality Stamps, intended to counter racial inequality. However, they faced significant backlash in Spain, leading Correos to quickly end the campaign without offering an apology. This essay explores the reactions to the failed campaign, the resulting controversies (e.g., El Chojísn’s participation), and the increasing value of the stamps in the philatelic resale market. While many people around the world were stunned by this postal initiative, this essay argues that it is yet another unsuccessful attempt by the Spanish State to externalize racism as a problem that exists elsewhere while inflicting epistemological violence upon its racialized communities. While “Spain is different” may have been an effective slogan in the past, today, the country’s actions reveal unsettling similarities to failed attempts at multiculturalism in other Western post-colonial nations.