You can use CSS linear-gradient() with rgba().
div {
width: 300px;
height: 200px;
background: linear-gradient(rgba(255,255,255,.5), rgba(255,255,255,.5)), url("https://i.imgur.com/xnh5x47.jpg");
}
span {
background: black;
color: white;
}
<div><span>Hello world.</span></div>