MLK, Jr., no slouch at speechmaking himself, was asked to talk about racism at Western Michigan University in December 1963, four months after rocking the nation with his "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, DC.

It was a wide-ranging speech that touched on all aspects of the Civil Rights Movement, including the failure of the churches and their congregants to end segregation:

We must face the fact that in America the church is still the most segregated major institution in America. At 11:00 on Sunday morning when we stand and sing and Christ has no east or west, we stand at the most segregated hour in this nation. This is tragic.

122 years after Douglass' speech, Dr. King didn't hesitate to also call out the church and its leaders for the persistent problem of racism. Of course, slavery was long gone, but segregation was alive and well. King, a minister, wanted to use the churches as an institution to fight for equality, whereas Douglass saw the churches as complicit in slavery in his day and felt alienated from them despite his Christian faith.

For a look at the similarities and differences between Douglass and MLK, Jr., check out Boston University's handy guide.