Spain's immigrant politician highlights racial imbalances
| Madrid
Two young Senegalese men met on a Europe-bound migrant boat in 2006, a year that saw a record influx of Africans to Spain鈥檚 Canary Islands.
Since then, one died of a heart attack running away from Spanish police and the other is running in a polarized election Tuesday for a seat in Madrid鈥檚 regional assembly.
Serigne Mbaye not only wants to fight what he considers to be 鈥渟tructural racism鈥� against African migrants but also to defy a history of underrepresentation of the Black community and other people of color in Spanish politics.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where all discrimination begins,鈥� he told The Associated Press.
In 2018, having failed to secure legal work and a residence permit, the man he met on the boat 鈥� Mame Mbaye, no relation 鈥� died of a heart attack eluding a police crackdown on street vendors.
After that, Serigne Mbaye, who at the time represented a group of mostly Black African hawkers, became one of the most vocal voices against Spain鈥檚 Alien Law, saying it ties migrants arriving unlawfully to the underground economy. The regulation also punishes them with jail for committing minor offenses, leaving them with a criminal record that weighs against their chances of getting a residence permit.
鈥淗is image at night when we were on the boat always haunts me,鈥� said Mr. Mbaye, who is now a Spanish citizen. 鈥淭he sole fact that he is dead and I鈥檓 alive is because of an unjust law that condemns and punishes us. Some of us make it. Some can spend 20 years in a vicious circle without papers.鈥�
Mr. Mbaye is running on a ticket with the anti-austerity United We Can party, the junior partner in the country鈥檚 ruling, Socialist-led coalition.
Only a handful of Black people have succeeded at the top level of Spanish politics. Equatorial Guinea-born Rita Bosaho, now the director of racial and ethnic diversity at Spain鈥檚 Equality Ministry, in 2015 became the first Black national lawmaker in four decades of democratic rule. Luc Andr茅 Diouf, who also migrated from Senegal, also won a seat in Spain鈥檚 Lower House in 2019.
At a lower, regional level, Mr. Mbaye wants to show that 鈥淢adrid is diverse.鈥�
鈥淭hat a Black person is running in the lists has surprised many. In that way, this is making many people think,鈥� he said.
Vox, the country鈥檚 increasingly influential far-right party, has responded to Mr. Mbaye鈥檚 candidacy with an Instagram post vowing to deport him, even though that鈥檚 impossible because the far-left candidate is a Spanish citizen. With its mixture of patriotism and populist provocation, Vox has become the third force in the national parliament and might emerge as the kingmaker in Madrid鈥檚 May 4 election.
鈥淭hey are basically saying that because I鈥檓 Black there is no place for me here,鈥� said Mr. Mbaye. 鈥淭hese are the kind of messages that criminalize us and that we continue receiving.鈥�
Vox has also made waves with large subway ads citing inaccurate figures comparing Madrid鈥檚 alleged public spending on unaccompanied foreign minors with the alleged average stipend for a retiree. The party blames the minors 鈥� a total of 269 people in the region鈥檚 population of 6.7 million 鈥� for increased insecurity.
Judges have ruled that the billboards fall under free speech. But when Vox is accused by opponents of being racist, the party says its crusade is only against illegal migration and that a racist party wouldn鈥檛 have a mixed-race spokesman in northeastern Catalonia鈥檚 regional parliament. That鈥檚 Rafael Garriga, a dentist of Belgian and Equatorial Guinean descent.
鈥淏y surrounding themselves with what they see as some kind of respectability, they try to legitimize clearly racist speech while not crossing certain legal lines,鈥� said Antumi Toasij茅, a historian who heads the National Council Against Ethnic and Racial Discrimination.
The ascent of the far-right and the polarization in social media has normalized hate speech in Spain, he said.
The Black Lives Matter movement led last year to some of the largest protests against racism seen in Spain. But while many condemned the murder of Black citizens by police in the United States, few reflected on domestic racism or Spain鈥檚 own history of colonialism, slavery and, according to Mr. Toasij茅, 鈥渁 long tradition of attempts to conduct ethnic cleansing.鈥�
In a country where the census doesn鈥檛 ask about race or ethnicity, like in much of Europe, a recent government study put the number of Black people in Spain at just over 700,000.
Mr. Toasij茅鈥檚 own estimation elevates the figure to at least 1.3 million 鈥渧isibly鈥� Black people, including sub-Saharan Africans, Black Latin Americans, and Afro-descendants born in Spain. That would be 2.7% of the population, or at least nine Black lawmakers if the 350-seat Congress of Deputies reflected the country鈥檚 diversity. There is currently one Black lawmaker.
Still, quotas or other measures that would help address racial inequality aren鈥檛 even part of the debate, said Toasij茅.
That underrepresentation also affects Spain鈥檚 Roma people, a community of 700,000 that scored a historic victory in 2019 by snatching four parliamentary seats, close to the 1.5% share it represents in the total population. But one of them failed to retain his seat in a repeated election.
The situation isn鈥檛 better for descendants of Latin Americans or Moroccans, who represent some of the largest groups of non-white Spaniards, or the more than 11% of foreign-born residents who can鈥檛 run in regional or national elections.
Moha Gerehou, a Spanish journalist and anti-racism activist, said 鈥渟tructural racism鈥� is inbred in Spanish life.
鈥淚t has a lot to do with education, because the main bottleneck is in access to universities, leaving low-paid and precarious employment like domestic work or harvesting, where there is rampant exploitation,鈥� he said.
Barring sports figures and some artists, people of color are pretty much invisible in high-powered Spanish circles from academia to big business, said Mr. Gerehou, who just published a book on growing up as a Black person in a provincial northern Spanish capital.
His description is of a largely white country that considers itself non-racist and welcoming to migrants, even when numerous studies have captured rampant discrimination against people of color, especially in jobs or housing.
鈥淭he problem is that the debate of racial representation is still on the fringes,鈥� Mr. Gerehou said. 鈥淲e need to go much faster.鈥�
This story was reported by The Associated Press.
