Though many Massachusetts residents were anti-slavery, most were not pro-equality.  This painting depicts several anti-equality stereotypes that were common at the time it was painted in 1838.  The figures are dressed in outdated clothing styles, referencing a trope that Black people were incapable of sophistication.  The artist based the two figures in red off of a 1793 print which mocked Governor John Hancock for hosting an “Equality Ball.”  The central figure is Long Tail Blue, the main character in a racist 1827 minstrel song of the same name.