Further effects of the ternary system are seen in how Brazilian slave holders incorporated the population of Freed Coloreds, typically mulattos, as enforcers of the racial hierarchy. By buying into the enforcement of the status quo, multiracial individuals were emplacing themselves in this system—both as superior to black Brazilians and complacent as second-class citizens to white Brazilians. This is further explained through the “mulatto escape hatch”, wherein individuals who were "visibility" of mixed heritage would be granted situational permission to identify as white due to their talents and assets such as education level or learned skills. By employing this social strategy in the context of the ternary system, Brazilian elites were able to keep the most outspoken and skilled multiracial individuals from critiquing the unequal status quo. Due to the operation of this racialized system, it became favorable for Brazilians to present themselves as belonging to Native American or European heritages while simultaneously distancing themselves from African descendancy.