Black and Spanish: A National Team Starts to Reflect All of Its Nation

“No one is born a racist,’’ Nico Williams told the Spanish newspaper Marca. “With education at home and education in school, I think little by little racism is going to be disappearing.”

Likewise, a visible, undeniable Black presence on the national soccer team is not a panacea. Gerehou, for one, worries that it may function as a version of what has become known as the Obama Effect, shutting down a conversation rather than igniting one, the illusion of change inhibiting an actual transformation.

“There is a risk that people can say, OK, there are Black players in the team, there is no problem,” he said. “It is the same logic that if there is a Black president, then racism must no longer exist. Representation has limits. Things like music and sports are not always a faithful reflection of reality. There might be Black players in the Spain squad, but that does not mean that tomorrow there will be Black directors of banks or Black lawmakers or Black media executives.”

He does, though, see the presence of Black, indisputably Spanish players as a step forward. “It’s important the national team reflects the reality of society,” he said. “We are white and Black and North African and Asian, but we are all Spanish.” For Bermúdez, it is a sign that the country is, at last, starting to “accept and recognize its historical and current diversity.”

Mbomío’s conclusion is slightly simpler. She remembers those tournaments as a child, when she chose not to support the team carrying her flag but her reflection, and how much it would have meant to her not to have had to make that choice. Fati, Balde, Williams and Sánchez — players who are both Black and Spanish — mean the contrast is not quite so stark. “It is a demonstration,” she said, “that we exist.”