“I had no idea…”
Now angry, he swung about. “I find Miss Doyle mistaken. You did have an idea. You had it from Zachariah. I know you did. He told us he tried to convince you. ‘Oh, Miss Doyle believes in honor,’ he’d say. “’She’s the very soul of justice!’” Fisk spat on the floor. “Honor! What you mean to say, Miss Doyle, is that you didn’t choose to heed his words because Zachariah was an old black who lacked the captain’s graces!”
I bowed my head.

“I didn’t mean—“
He cut me off abruptly. “Gentlefolk like you never mean, Miss Doyle. But what you do…”

Excerpts from The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, copyright © 1990 by Avi. Used by permission of Brandt and Hochman Literary Agents, Inc. All rights reserved.

Which major theme does the passage suggest?