Spanish to English Social Sciences History Caribbean colonial history; 18th century

I'm translating a book on Caribbean history. This portion deals with the formation of national identity as many former colonies in the Caribbean and South America were gaining their independence, and with racial conflicts and slave uprisings that resulted in the abolition of slavery. The "ideas" to which the author refers are the notions among the elite that the conflict was over race, not slavery; that "negro = esclavo = africano"; and that blacks were savages and barbarians, diametrically opposed to the values that were the legacy of the European metropolises.

Here's the context:

Al contrario, las elites criollas se volvieron tributarias de las nociones raciales que habían predominado durante la época esclavista. Aun en aquellos países que alcanzaron una independencia temprana--como Haití, República Dominicana y, más tarde, Cuba--continuaron **gravitando** tales ideas."

I don't understand this usage of "gravitar." I get the idea: the criollo elite continued to support the old notions. My "placeholder" translation at the moment is that those ideas "continued to circulate," but I would like to know what the author actually meant.

What sense of "gravitar" is he using here? Does he simply mean that the ideas were still in vogue? Is there some sense here of being "weighted down"? The English "gravitate" usually includes a movement TOWARD something, and attraction TO something; I don't find that in this construction.

Is anyone familiar with this usage? Does anybody "get it"?

The author is Puerto Rican; the register is academic; I am translating into U.S. English for a scholarly international readership.

Thanks in advance for your help.