In many situations, if the blacks thought the white wouldn't approve of it, they shoved away the thought in fear of punishment from the whites. Melba writes “The white folks won’t like us to do that,” or “We don’t wanna anger the white folks.” Washington believed that the black man must earn his equality and be patient, and if you upset the whites, you wouldn't be able to earn what equality you wanted, this was the mindset of the Melba’s family. Washington said “The southern white man would not consider that the Negro had any right which a white man was bound to respect” Washington states here that whites must find it in themselves to give blacks equality, they cannot be forced to give