Why Spain’s "Equality Stamps" Caused Such A Backlash

As far as bad ideas go, at least this one had a decent intention behind it. Spain's postal service, Correos España, released a series of stamps in various skin colors as a way to commemorate the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. The aim was to "shine a light on racial inequality and promote diversity, inclusion and equal rights." It's an admirable goal.

Unfortunately, they chose to try and do it by releasing four stamps that declined in value as the color got darker. The point, obviously, was to shine a light on an inequity that already exists in the world. In too many industries, minorities are paid less for the same work. Their worth is quite literally quantified as less. On a series of four stamps, however, the nuance of this message is lost and instead all people see is a visualization that seems to suggest that darker skin tones deserve to be less valuable. The stamps painted a picture of an unjust reality as it currently exists. What they should have done is designed the stamps for what reality could be ... with them all valued the same.