In 1995, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted a resolution apologizing for its past ties to systemic racism and repenting of its founding history rooted in support for slavery.
In 2015, the SBC adopted a resolution vowing to “rededicate ourselves to the holy responsibility and privilege of loving and discipling people of all races and ethnicities in our communities.”
In 2017, the SBC adopted a resolution condemning “alt-right” white supremacy.
In 2021, the SBC reaffirmed that racism is a sin and called for greater racial and ethnic representation within SBC institutions.
In 2026, the president of the United States posted an AI-generated video depicting his predecessor, Barack Obama, and his wife, Michelle Obama, as apes. Many pastors and religious leaders who previously have been silent took to social media to condemn the egregious racism of the president’s post.
But leaders of the SBC largely were silent — as they have been time and again when the president they helped elect has said and done blasphemous things.
“Faced with Donald Trump’s blatant history of racism exhibited in the middle-of-the-night video post, the president of the SBC said nothing.”
Faced with Donald Trump’s blatant history of racism exhibited in the middle-of-the-night video post, the president of the SBC said nothing. Just like he said nothing when Trump’s thugs murdered two civilians in Minneapolis.
If the SBC really is serious about repenting of its racist foundation and its long history of racist actions, you’d think maybe the denomination’s top elected official would have something to say when the president of the United States abuses his office with one of the most racist social media posts ever. But Clint Pressley’s X account shows nothing.
SBC President Clint Pressley (BP photo)
Instead, he’s promoting SBC thought influencer Al Mohler’s comments about empathy being bad: “It’s not so much that I think empathy is wrongly defined. It is the fact that I don’t think empathy is a thing. I don’t think it’s real. It is a substitute for a real Christian morality.”
Nor has Mohler, who seldom has an unpublished thought, said a single word about the president’s racist video. Instead, over on X he’s promoting his latest podcast about “the importance of dads, the glory of a baby’s laugh, ‘Bluey’ and the beauty of creation order.”
To be fair, Baptist Press wrote a story about Southern Baptist response to the ape video claiming: “Southern Baptist leaders pointed to the evils of racism following a now deleted post on Pres. Trump’s social media page Friday.”
Which leaders were quoted?
- South Carolina Baptist Convention Executive Director Tony Wolfe — a state leader, not a national leader
- Alabama State Board of Mission Executive Director Rick Lance — also a state leader, not a national leader
- Kentucky pastor David Prince
- SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg demonstrated no courage at all but at least he said something: “Our national leaders must model disagreeing with people without demeaning them. Racist tropes and personal attacks do not strengthen our country or build the unity we need.”
Oh yes, the BP article highlights in the eighth paragraph an unsigned statement from the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission that is milquetoast at best. Apparently no one at the ERLC was willing to affix their names to this pabulum:
Screenshot
Regardless of the circumstances in which the video was made or shared, the depiction of the Obamas was inexcusable, and we are glad the video was taken down. Calling someone an ape is intentionally derogatory and dehumanizing. Portraying African Americans as apes has an even deeper insidious history.
Despite sometimes deep disagreements over policies, in recent years Southern Baptists have declared over and over the biblical truth that every person is made in God‘s image, has the same inherent worth, and should be treated accordingly.
Our nation should demand better of its leaders, and we should all pray and work toward that end.
Screenshot
In SBC life, that passes for a strong statement. But we don’t know who wrote or who agrees with it. It is nameless and posted to the ERLC website but nowhere to be found on its X page, which has not been updated since September 2025. Ironically, the ERLC’s out-of-date X page is promoting a podcast on God-honoring use of AI. (The unsigned statement is posted to the ERLC’s Facebook page.)
If this is the best the SBC can do when the president of the United States mocks Black people as apes — and his press secretary ridiculously defends it — the SBC is not serious about racial reconciliation or the Bible.
Clint Pressley, what or who are you afraid of? Why are you so silent?
Al Mohler, can you publicly condemn this racism?
Gary Collingsworth, interim president of the ERLC, would you publicly affix your name to the ERLC statement?
The silence of SBC leaders in this moment proves there is, in fact, nothing Donald Trump can do to lose their support.
Jesus weeps. And Black people ought to leave SBC churches in droves. Your denominational leaders think it’s OK for you to be depicted as apes.
Mark Wingfield serves as executive director and publisher of Baptist News Global.