Light complexion carried convertible symbolic capital that Black migrants lacked entirely.

Evidence

Many came to occupy positions identical with or just below Creole whites. What became most evident in their upward mobility was the importance of the symbolic capital of whiteness. Thus, the over 40,000 postemancipation Africans brought to the West Indies between 1834 and 1867 for plantation labor experienced a fundamentally different pattern of amalgamation. They did not enjoy the reward of upward mobility (Asiegbu, 1969:189-90). Instead, incorporation occurred at the lowest rung of the color/class continuum of Creole society. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3248

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: a comparative piece on how ‘proximity to whiteness’ functioned as a distinct convertible currency in Caribbean colonial economies, contrasted with Black migrant incorporation at the bottom rung.