niel. Religious faith was an integral part of the King family's life. Alberta's father had been a minister, and had founded the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King, Sr. now served as pastor. This spiritual foundation created a firm ground from which Martin Luther King, Jr.'s convictions regarding racial equality grew. In this regard, Downing has noted that "religious faith can be understood as the central organizing and driving force of his life."
As a child, Martin had experiences with racial prejudice and segregation which deeply affected the course which his life would take. Growing up in the South, the King children were well aware of segregationist practices from an early age. Schulke and McPhee have noted that like all southern black children at that time, King and his siblings "knew there were places forbidden to them - certain water fountains and rest rooms they could not use; certain restaurants and stores where they were not welcome; certain seats on a bus or in a movie theatre where they could not sit; swimming pools, parks, and playgrounds where they could not join the games." Nonetheless, King's middle-class origins provided a comfort zone which in his earliest years shielded him from much of the pain imposed by segregation. It was not until he reached school age that Martin was forced to deal with the effects of racial segregation on his personal life.
Before he was old enough to attend school, Martin had developed a close friendship with a neighborhood boy who was white. Because they were of different races, when school began, they went to different schools. However, young Martin's attempts to maintain the friendship outside of school came to an end when the boy confessed that his father had forbidden him to play with Martin anymore. In later years, King discussed the impact which this childhood incident had on him: "I never will forget what a great shock this was to me. I im...