Talk:Martin Luther King Jr.: Difference between revisions

Socialist quotes

There's recently been a dispute on whether these quotes by Martin Luther King Jr. belong in the article. I wouldn't be against it necessarily if it was an article surrounding his political beliefs exclusively. But I don't believe we can easily summarize or contextualize these statements (or historians views on them) without getting into problems. Since it appears that King is using the terms in a different way from what many people would interpret it to mean.

The American philosopher Tommie Shelby — who openly states he views King's policies as more radical than the average historiographical treatment by historians — states that King was almost certainly not a democratic socialist in the modern sense.

If you use a Marxist conception of capitalism and socialism, then I don’t think you can suggest that King was a socialist because he’s not calling for the abolition of private property in land, technology, resources, or finance. He’s not saying — not in his public writings — that wage labor is inherently exploitative. These are things that Marx would insist on. As much as he’s in favor of the labor movement and defends it, you don’t see King say anything like that. Now, maybe he thought it, somewhere, and he said it to someone, but it’s not in his public writings. He’s not defending it out front. Nor do you see him attacking the property question in that kind of militant way.

and:

I can understand people wanting to use King to advance a socialist cause, a cause I’m sympathetic to. But I don’t think it’s a good idea really to invoke him in this way without due care for what he actually says in his various writings and public speeches. People are really just drawing on, for the most part, a few remarks here and there that can be interpreted in a wide range of ways. So I suppose if you think Denmark is a socialist country, then I guess he’s a socialist. I do not myself think Denmark is a socialist country. But if you mean socialism in the sense that Marx and his allies meant, then I think it’d be pretty hard to make the case for that.

Without adding context and just including the quotes: Readers are going to get the impression that Martin Luther King Jr. held views similar to the Wikipedia article on democratic socialism. Which very likely isn't the case.

Most historians think King was a social democrat/left-wing American political figure. Currently, I think adding the quotes would likely lead to more confusion than understanding. KlayCax (talk) 15:38, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 12 January 2024

Why isn't his name Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on this page? His degrees were earned and when one has a doctorate we respect that. 24.121.72.18 (talk) 02:44, 12 January 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: see MOS:REVEREND, we mention his degrees in the article, they just don't go in the first sentence like I think you're requesting Cannolis (talk) 03:05, 12 January 2024 (UTC)

1 3 1... 120.29.110.236 (talk) 02:25, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

Is Martin Luther kind the second president

? 2601:583:8200:6440:B140:99C7:B2F3:55B3 (talk) 04:28, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

No, while he never served directly in the government, he was a very important Civil Rights leader from 1955 until his death in 1968, he was also a Minister in a Church. 108.49.72.125 (talk) 16:35, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 15 January 2024

Unless objected, please ADD “Dr.” in front of Martin Luther King Jr name

Thank you Molldoll849 (talk) 16:20, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

I can't edit that, but please take a look at this, as to why "Dr." isn't added in front of his name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Martin_Luther_King_Jr.#Semi-protected_edit_request_on_12_January_2024 108.49.72.125 (talk) 16:26, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: Most titles and honorifics are not included in the article's title, nor in uses of the person's name, per MOS:PREFIX. Liu1126 (talk) 16:57, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

RE: Early 1950 Maple Shade, Mary's Cafe incident

I ran across this article originally dated Jan 14 2024 describing an MLK incident at Mary's Cafe in South Jersey and a law suit in 1950. I'm not skilled in Wiki, but scanning around for a while, I didn't find any 1950 references. This was obviously while he was at Cozer. I paste a partial copy here. I do not need an answer. I just thought mention of something as early as 1950 may be considered to include. Obviously, Jersey thinks it is his first. FYI: I saw it yesterday (the 15th), but reading it today (16th) the date shows 15th.

NJ Spotlight News:

"It’s not just that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. held his first formal sit-in on June 11, 1950, in the South Jersey town of Maple Shade, but that protest also led to King’s first lawsuit against discrimination. . . . Nichols was arrested and charged, but when witnesses failed to testify, the case was dropped."

https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2024/01/1-16/ Regards, -- Steve -- (talk) 15:46, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 21 February 2024

47.148.122.51 (talk) 04:55, 21 February 2024 (UTC)

He was black

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. EnIRtpf09b (talk) 07:29, 21 February 2024 (UTC)

korvar

korvar är en delikattes på mars 109.205.220.207 (talk) 08:18, 5 March 2024 (UTC)