ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the representation of the Black Civil Rights Movement in the Spanish newspaper Arriba. Ironically, in spite of being the official voice of Franco’s totalitarian regime, Arriba expressed its strong support for the Movement, condemning police brutality and the denial of basic democratic rights for African Americans. Focusing on the coverage between 1965 and 1968 of several crucial events – the Selma Movement for voting rights and the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, the race riots during the summer of 1967, and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968 – it examines the interplay of religious discourse, the complex relationship between Washington and Franco’s regime, and Spain’s narrative of colonialism – articulated in the Hispanidad discourse – in order to understand the seemingly paradoxical representation of events.
