Southern Baptists expel church as pastor defends blackface and Native caricatures

https://www.npr.org/2023/09/19/ [login to see] /southern-baptists-expel-church-as-pastor-defends-blackface-and-native-caricature
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.