Southern Baptists expel Oklahoma church amid blackface scandal: report

A controversial church in Oklahoma has been kicked out of the Southern Baptist Convention after its pastor defended dressing in blackface and doing racist impressions of Native Americans, reported the Associated Press on Wednesday.

According to the report, the SBC's executive committee took a vote on Tuesday and held Matoaka Baptist Church to be "not in friendly cooperation with the convention."

Earlier this year, videos surfaced of the pastor, Sherman Jaquess, in dark face paint and an Afro wig doing an impression of soul singer Ray Charles. He also dressed up and did an impression of an indigenous woman — despite frequently preaching against the evils of drag shows from the pulpit.

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Jaquess doubled down on his actions when confronted, saying that, "There wasn't anything racial about it. I was singing Ray Charles, Seven Spanish Angels and I said, ‘I love Ray Charles music. How can you portray Ray Charles if you’re not a Black man?”

As for the Native American woman costume, he said, "One night we had cowboys and Indian night ... That wasn't a drag queen performance, that was a theme night at Falls Creek and I was fully clothed and I did nothing sexual or lewd.”