Last week, a Detroit music festival called AfroFuture came under fire for its ticketing model. Rapper Tiny Jag became the first to pull out of the event due to its controversial pricing, which charges white people twice as much as people of color.
"I was going to make a video but I am too triggered to address this issue in that way," she wrote in a statement on her Twitter account on July 2. "I was unknowingly added to the AfroFuture event (miscommunication?) but ultimately agreed to support and play the event in effort to support an individual within its curation. Today, a non-POC friend of mine brought to my attention that AfroFuture is requiring non-POC to pay twice the amount to attend the festival as POC."
On the Eventbrite page for AfroFuture Fest, there was an early bird ticket for POC only for $10, while "non-POC" would be charged $20 for tickets. "This does not reflect the views of myself or the Tiny Jag team," she continued. "I apologize to anyone who may have been triggered or offended."
"I was immediately enraged just because I am biracial," Tiny Jag said in an interview with the Detroit Metro Times. "I have family members that would have, under those circumstances, been subjected to something that I would not ever want them to be in...especially not because of anything that I have going on."
In response to the criticism of the prices, AfroFuture announced it would change all tickets to $20 general admission. "For the safety of our community, family, elders who received threats from white supremacists, & youth who were subjected to seeing racist comments on our IG page, AfroFuture Fest has changed our ticketing model," the statement reads.
Eventbrite said the ticketing model for AfroFuture violated its terms of service, as the site does not "permit events that require attendees to pay different prices based on their protected characteristics such as race or ethnicity."
