The correct answer is C. Concerning with appearances.
In this play by Alice Childress, the action takes place in a picnic of the neighbourhood block association. The appearance of Joe, a poor, homeless character disrupts the scene, and when a wallet dissapears, suspiction falls on him and they begin to harass Joe.
Even though the play deals with middle-class Blacks accusing a working class Black, the sentence in this case deals with keeping the appearances and respectability associated with middle-class expectations. In the context of these sentence, some of the characters, especially L. V. Craig are already harassin Joe, judging that because he is poor he must have stolen something. Maydelle is the character that keeps saying that kindness goes a long way and trying to de-escalate the situation. Even if they are misjudging Joe and picking on him, with this sentence she is more worried of Doctor MacDonald or the children hearing them loose their temper than with stopping the situation with Joe.
