Southern Baptists expel Oklahoma church after pastor defends his blackface and Native caricatures

Source: Associated Press

Southern Baptists expel Oklahoma church after pastor defends his blackface and Native caricatures

BY PETER SMITH
Updated 4:59 PM EDT, September 19, 2023

The Southern Baptist Convention has ousted an Oklahoma church whose pastor defended his blackface performance at one church event and his impersonation of a Native American woman at another.

The Executive Committee of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination voted Tuesday that Matoaka Baptist Church of Ochelata “be deemed not in friendly cooperation with the convention” — the official terminology for an expulsion.

The church’s pastor, Sherman Jaquess, dressed in blackface for a 2017 church Valentine’s Day event, in which he claimed to be impersonating the late soul singer Ray Charles. Jaquess wore dark facial makeup, a large Afro wig and dark glasses and smiled broadly as he sang a duet. Some in the crowd can be heard laughing during the video of the performance.

The video was brought to light earlier this year by a Tulsa community activist, Marq Lewis.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/southern-baptists-expulsion-blackface-race-268787a503f3396463699817fff5407e