Louis E. Lomax, a friend of M.L., said men like Daddy King were “so strong and hard driving” that they tended to “confuse their own desires with God’s will,” and, as a result, their children lived with unbearable pressure and unrealistic expectations. Whatever Daddy King’s motivation, it became clear that his middle child preferred absorbing punishment to delivering it, especially if ordered to hit his sister. When M.L. was spanked, he would never let his father see him cry. But neither would the son confront his father or fight back.
