Out of Place

What is it about?

Caribbean tourist resorts are often compared to sugar plantations. Like sugar plantations, resorts are managed by white expat staff, while dark-skinned men and women perform the hardest work and light-skinned men and women occupy supervisory posts. Focussing on Jamaica from 1962 to the present and paying attention to both non-white hotel workers and hotel guests, this article argues that hotels are even more racially divisive than previously acknowledged. It shows that while non-white hotel workers and guests at times contested instances of race and colour discrimination more often than helped to uphold the hegemonic race relations because they were socialized into a system that placed a high premium on white or light skin.

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