At the South I was a member of the Methodist Church. When I came north, I thought one Sunday I would attend communion, at one of the churches of my denomination, in the town I was staying. The white people gathered round the altar, the blacks clustered by the door. After the good minister had served out the bread and wine to one portion of those near him, he said, "These may withdraw, and others come forward;" thus he proceeded till all the white members had been served. Then he took a long breath, and looking out towards the door, exclaimed, "Come up, colored friends, come up! for you know God is no respecter of persons!" I haven't been there to see the sacraments taken since. (1-6)

Douglass doesn't waste any time. He jumps right in with his first example of prejudice he's experienced in a church setting. It was obviously disillusioning for him, having arrived in the land of the free. He's very clear that this is prejudice and segregation he's experiencing in the North, and he's also very clear that whites and blacks were separated—some might say segregated—during communion.

The quote has impact, as it's probably something many of his white Northern listeners who thought they were progressive had said before: "It's okay that you're black."

That final sentence, however, indicates that Douglass isn't going to sit around and take it—he hasn't been back.