Some mestizos and mulattos in colonial Oaxaca were allowed to carry arms, an elite privilege. This suggests to John Chance that

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The fact that some mestizos and mulattos were allowed to carry arms, which was an elite privilege, indicates that their status was not fixed but rather ambiguous, allowing for some degree of social mobility or recognition beyond strict racial or caste lines. This does not imply that the sistema de castas had no effect on upward mobility or that concern with ancestry disappeared, but rather that there were exceptions to the rigid social hierarchy.

Some Mestizos and Mulattos in Colonial Oaxaca Were Allowed to Carry