*Spain’s postal service has rolled out a line of skin-tone stamps — with the lightest ones being the most valuable.
“The darker the stamp, the less value it will have,” the state-owned company Correos said in a news release announcing the launch. “Therefore, when making a shipment, it will be necessary to use more black stamps than white ones. That way, each letter and each shipment will become a reflection of the inequality created by racism.”
Per MSN, a black stamp is worth 70 cents, while a stamp in the lightest skin color costs 1.60 euros.
“Accidentally racist,” one social media user commented in response to the skin-tone stamps. Another user wrote, “Accidentally VOX,” referring to Spain’s far-right Vox party.
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Spain’s postal service introduced “skin-tone” stamps as part of an anti-racism effort. The darker the stamp, the less it’s worth. pic.twitter.com/I186zTvp0b
— amna (@IAmAmnaNawaz) May 28, 2021
On Twitter, the postal service said the campaign aims to raise awareness about “an unfair and painful reality that should not exist.”
Here’s more from MSN:
Between 2016 and 2019, Spanish officials recorded a more than 20 percent increase in racist and xenophobic hate crimes in the country, from 416 in 2016 to 515 two years ago.
In releasing the stamps, Correos collaborated with SOS Racismo, a federation of Spanish anti-racism nongovernmental organizations, and with Spanish activist and rapper El Chojín.
In a statement, SOS Racismo said the campaign’s intention was “to make this reality [of racial discrimination] visible.”
“We have seen it these days in Ceuta, we see it every day in the Mediterranean, in the growing xenophobic and racist discourses that are taking hold in Europe,” it added.
What do you think of the skin-tone stamps? Sound off in the comments.
