Religion-based systems of discrimination in theory allow the individual to convert and become a member of the privileged class, for example the Ottoman millet system, or French colonialism in Algeria. But in practice, any attempt by the oppressed to do it at scale is resisted. Portugal traded in African slaves starting in the 15th century, saying it was legal because they were not Christian; then as the Congo converted to Christianity, the legal basis for slavery changed from religion to race.
@Alon Or Renaissance/early modern Spain, where Jews and Muslims were encouraged to convert en masse . . . and then subjected to massive discrimination as "New Christians" versus "Old Christians."
@GreenFire ...sort of. It didn't spread among the slaves of the Barbary pirates, for example. In the Levant and Egypt, it took centuries to take root, and much of that was about converting to escape paying the poll tax. (I've read that the reason Copts have higher incomes than the Egyptian average is that the conversions were concentrated among the poor because of the poll tax, and income mobility over the centuries has been so low it's still visible today.)
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