Based on a Walt Whitman poem, Harry T. Burleigh's Ethiopia Saluting the Colors (1915) portrays an encounter between a Union soldier and an African-American woman. I synthesize analysis of persona after Cone (1974), topics and semiotics after Agawu (1991) and Floyd (1995), and Signifyin(g) after Maxile (2008) to examine the musical identities of the characters. Looking at the ways these musical signs interact with one another, I argue that Ethiopia portrays the Union soldier's impression of the woman. Connecting this to real-world issues of racial bias, I propose that Burleigh's musical treatment of the characters in Ethiopia reflects this inequality, where those in certain minority groups (like the African-American woman) are initially judged according to stereotypes.