Martin Luther King, Jr.

Test Preparation
1

Hi guys!

I’ve just studied about Martin Luther King, Jr. recently and found a little ambivalent point here:

Says the wiki: “King said his father regularly whipped him until he was fifteen” I thought he was some sorta victim of family bullying and violence. However, in http://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther-King-Jr , it says that “Young Martin received a solid education and grew up in a loving extended family.”

Can someone please enlighten me? Many thanks!

2

“Says the wiki” sort of says it all.

3

you mean I should believe in wiki, @jeremyj? I thought so but the link is also from wiki so it confuses me a little bit

4

If I had a student who used Wikipedia as a source in a paper, I would discount every premise made on that source. I understand the value of a crowd-sourced information database, but I would never allow it to be used as a source. And most definitely not in the face of controverting evidence found in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica. There are definitely more reputable sources available (https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/) for example.

5

Although having just done my own series of quick Google searches, it seems that this information comes from a book with a reputable publisher. I would suggest checking the pages it references. The quote: "King said his father regularly whipped him until he was fifteen and a neighbor reported hearing the elder King telling his son “he would make something of him even if he had to beat him to death.” fails to name the neighbor, is self-reported, and does not really define “regularly”. http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Biographies/dp/0143036483

6

Thanks for your advises! This is the first time I have a research on American figures, and I have no idea about any reputable sources for their biographies. Can you please recommend me some that you find useful?

7

I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to put together an entire bibliography for you - but start with the books/sources I’ve listed and look at their sources. And then look at their sources. Carefully crafted Google searches can help too. Just be cautious to “consider the source” when researching historical figures that might be controversial.

8

K, thanks, again!