Freedom was the only thing that many slaves dreamt of for many years. Fortunately for them, their dreams became a reality. During the mid 1800s,  the British Colonies announced that slavery was to come to an end. This became known as the Emancipation of Slavery. It would benefit the country without slavery as it brings internal improvements, and promoted peace (Jamaica—State of the Island—Fruits of Emancipation—Social Prospects. National Anti-Slavery Standard, 1842).At least, that was the idea.In Jamaica, after emancipation took in effect, discrimination and rejection was more display than ever. Not only did whites still looked down on blacks, blacks now can look down on whites.

Jamaica was filled with different racial classes. According to Kathleen Wilson, author of The Island of face, she writes that Jamaica had racial divisions that included ” English, Scots, Irish, Jews, white traders, indentured servants, mulattos or coloured, free blacks and maroons” (Wilson, The Island of Race, pp 147). Mulattos, free blacks and maroons were used to describe different types of blacks. These races all had black heritage but yet they were separated in different categories. The system of categorizing same races, makes rejection and isolation easier. For example, even though one is white, there were different kinds of whites that made him or her different, which caused discrimination.

The struggle of finding where one would belong in was present in the book Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. Main character Antoinette and her family was a white Creole. Creole at the time was described as a person who has European background and was born in the Caribbean islands. But most Europeans described them as a mix of black and white blood. Creoles were generally looked down upon. Creoles were considered a tinted white blood race. In Wide Sargasso Sea, Rochester, Antoinette’s husband, noticed that Antoinette’s eyes were not European or showing any traces of white genes. He started to question Antoinette’s background, suggesting that she might have black heritage (Rhys, Part two). Rochester’s suspicion shows that he, a pure white European, dislikes mix blood whites. He starts to distrust Antoinette. In addition to how Creoles were treated, Rhys writes ” they say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did. But we were not in their ranks. The Jamaicans ladies had never approved of my mother…” (Rhys,17). Even though Antoinette’s family was white, her family was “not in their ranks”, she became poor after the Emancipation which made whites look down on them. The blacks hated them because they use to have slaves. Both races disapproved of Antoinette’s family which struggled to find a place where they belonged.

European women were considered innocent, quiet, fragile and maternal. However Creole women were the complete opposite. They were “simpering, indolent, sluttish, vain and display vulgar manners of their black servants” (Wilson, pp 155), because of the inner nature of Creoles women, most European men would not marry creole women. However Creole women mortality rates were higher than men. So the main role for Creoles women was to marry a rich English men, or the opposite, where English men tries to marry rich Creole women. This was called marry and bury, (Wilson pp 155). In Wide Sargasso Sea, Rochester was actually offered 30,000 pounds and Antoinette heritage, if he married Antoinette. She was just the key to becoming wealthy for Rochester. Similarly, Antoinette mother marries a rich English man, Mr, Mason after they became poor. Creole women were just items used for money.

Creoles in Jamaica during the 1800s were isolated from the rest of the society. Jamaica was suppose to be a place where black and whites can live together happily and equally. But because of the different types of categories in the county, many faced discrimination and rejection.