The painting clearly refers to the period of slavery, presenting the unequal roles between white and black individuals. The artist paints the image in a way that both exposes and ridicules the actions of the white man. A black woman kissed by a white man suggests that she is a slave and therefore involved in a forced, sexually abusive relationship. African American women, as slaves, were subjected to the practice of sexual exploitation in the 19th century. Women were treated like property as they were continually harassed, raped, and beaten by their masters while white men in authority took advantage of their slaves. Although the women appeared to consent to the mistreatment, there were no safeguards to protect the women from such abuse and they had no choice but to engage in sexual activity with their masters. The black man in the image, however, is subject to being beaten, a way of enforcing slavery. The two black figures are essentially a form of "luxury" for white men as the black man is deprived of his rights by his master and is used as a tool through work in the fields, while the woman is used as a “luxury” that satisfies its owner by satisfying the white man's sexuality