Rev. Scobey questions jail increasing staff before NBA Youngboy concert
Rev. Derrick Scobey drills interim jail admin over increasing jail staffing ahead of NBA Youngboy’s concert in OKC.
Rapper NBA YoungBoy’s concert in Oklahoma City, despite the county jail’s concerns, staff reinforcements, and a jail trustee’s concerns over racial bias, led to no more arrests than usual for a big-name Saturday night act at the Paycom Center.
But the lead-up and aftermath online went global — to the Rev. Derrick Scobey’s delight. He said his guarded remarks before the concert, which he claimed were misconstrued by media including The Oklahoman, drew good attention.
Scobey, who is Black, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, and a member of the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority, the public trust that runs the jail, said The Oklahoman’s reporting and other media dissemination of the jail’s position “shed a huge amount of light on the subject” that went “international.”
It all started when Scobey called out interim jail administrator Tim Kimrey for the plan two days before the concert at the trust meeting Oct. 30.
Scobey did not use the terms “racial bias” or “racism,” but stuck with “overt,” leaving listeners to complete the thought, when he rebuked Kimrey.
After the news spread online, Scobey told The Oklahoman: “It was not a racist statement and I don’t believe he’s racist in any way, shape or form. We, the jail trust and detention center, made a huge mistake with this entire debacle.”
Scobey posted on his Facebook page Monday morning: “Several articles have misquoted me as saying ‘overt racism’ regarding the jail trust meeting. I never used the word ‘racism.’ What I actually said was ‘overt’ — you can go back and watch the video.
“I was referring to racial bias, not racism. These are fundamentally different concepts, and accuracy matters.”
Kimrey had earlier distributed a “law enforcement sensitive” document to certain officials, an “OCDC Intelligence Assessment” regarding the concert by 26-year-old NBA YoungBoy, born Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, which also featured rappers NoCap, DeeBaby, Mellow Rackz, Baby Mel, Lil Dump, and k3.
The jail memo outlined the performer’s criminal record and legal history, and said his concerts had been canceled in Chicago, Detroit, and Atlanta “due to security and safety concerns.”
At the trust meeting, Kimrey said he would bring in extra staff the night of the concert “just in case there’s an influx of inmates” from the Paycom Center, home of the OKC Thunder.
Oklahoma City police made no more than six or eight arrests around the time of the concert, about as many as for any big show, Capt. Valerie Littlejohn said. Such events often result in arrests for public intoxication, and disorderly conduct, she said.
Jail trustee The Rev. Derrick Scobey applauds widespread coverage of NBA YoungBoy concert controversy
New York City-based online channel Complex reported the dust-up, misquoting Scobey as calling the decision to increase jail staff “overt racism.”
Scobey left this comment, which drew no response, on Complex Networks’ Facebook page:
“Complex, I’m the person that is on the Oklahoma County Jail Trust who called into question the decision to increase jail staff.
“Here is the outcome of the concert: there were were six to eight arrests in OKC’s Downtown/Bricktown area from Saturday night into Sunday morning. While some might assume these were connected to the concert, this is actually our typical weekend arrest volume for that area. The 6-8 arrests were for low-level crimes. Mostly misdemeanors. The event went as well as we could have hoped.”
Scobey went on: “It seems to me that these arrest numbers, really lack thereof … need to be highly publicized in order for other cities to know in order for them to be more comfortable in hosting his concerts. Just my thoughts.”
Jail trustee The Rev. Derrick Scobey defines ‘racism’ and ‘racial bias’ in response to NBA YoungBoy concert controversy
TheGrio, a website based in Beverly Hills, California, that reports “Black Culture Amplified,” also covered the controversy, noting that “NBA YoungBoy’s ‘Make America Slime Again’ tour has been garnering headlines for both positive and negative reasons since it kicked off.”
Scobey said he sees the publicity as positive because it provoked discussion. On Facebook, he took the opportunity to explain the difference between “racism” and “racial bias.”
“Racism is a system of advantage and disadvantage based on race. It involves prejudice combined with institutional power, creating structures and policies that systematically advantage one racial group over others.
“Racism operates at multiple levels — individual attitudes, institutional practices, and societal structures — and involves both discriminatory actions and the power to enforce those discriminations through systemic means.
“Racial bias refers to attitudes, beliefs, or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious or conscious manner. Racial bias can exist without systemic power and may be implicit (unconscious) or explicit (conscious).
“While racial bias can contribute to racism, it describes individual-level prejudices or preconceptions about people based on their race, rather than the broader systemic structures that racism encompasses.”
As for the tempest surrounding Kimrey’s decision and his own reaction, Scobey said, “I’m not claiming to have been right all along. I’m simply grateful to God that we avoided a crisis that could have impacted our young people, our law enforcement officers, our detention staff, and our entire community.”
Staff writer Richard Mize covers Oklahoma County government and the city of Edmond. He previously covered housing, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com, starting in 1999. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com.
