SMH: Afrofuturist Festival Receives Threats For Charging White People Double Compared To People Of Color

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Detroit Festival Receives Backlash For Charging White People Double

So apparently some folks were mad that an Afrofuturist group was charging White people more for an event ticket than people of color. Now, the group has decided to reverse their pricing after backlash from racists, one artist and the ticketing website Eventbrite.

According to CNN, “AfroFuture Fest,” which is organized by Afrofuture Youth, is putting on a festival and they advertised an “Early Bird POC Ticket” for $10, whereas an Early Bird non-people of color ticket was $20.

News of the group’s pricing hit social media last week when rapper Tiny Jag said she was “unkowningly” added to the August event but still agreed to perform.  She told CNN that she wasn’t getting paid. Once she saw how the pricing differed between people of color and non-POC, she said she was “triggered.”

“A non-POC friend of mine brought to my attention that AfroFuture is requiring non-people-of-color to pay twice the amount to attend the festival as POC,” she tweeted on July 2. “This does not reflect the views of myself or the Tiny Jag team. I will not be playing this show. I apologize for anyone who may have been triggered or offended.”

Who knew White people paying more for stuff would trigger people.

Anyways, Tiny Jag went on to tell CNN that she’s biracial and her grandmother is White. She said she felt emotionally triggered because Afrofuture Youth’s practices make one group of people feel like they are not wanted at a function and like they’re paying a debt for another community.

You mean like the debts of slavery, discriminatory housing and all the other things their White ancestors probably participated in or were complicit in?

“I didn’t think we were near that thinking that something like that could be progressive,” said Tiny Jag. “We have never seen hate work, I don’t understand.”

Okay girl.

Eventbrite wasn’t here for Afrofuture Youth’s charging practices either, telling CNN they don’t “permit events that require attendees to pay different prices based on their protected characteristics such as race or ethnicity.”

They continued:

“In this case, we have notified the creator of the event about this violation and requested that they alter their event accordingly. We have offered them the opportunity to do this on their own accord; should they not wish to comply we will unpublish the event completely from our site.”

Afrofuture Youth provided reasons for doubling the prices for White people on their Eventbrite, saying that White people have the privilege to attend festivals in “POC populated cities.” In other words, White folks can roll up in a city, put on their flower hats, and spend cash on a festival, while the POC residents who actually live in that city might not have the economic privilege to enjoy a festival in their own neighborhood.

“This cycle disproportionately displaces black and brown people from enjoying entertainment in their own communities,” Afrofuture Youth said on Eventbrite.

Eventually, Afrofuture Youth tweeted that they will reverse their ticketing prices because they “received threats from white supremacists” and children were “subjected to seeing racist comments” on social media. General admission tickets are now $20 and they also asked for a suggested donation from non-people of color. 

The group clarified on Eventbrite:

“Equality means treating everyone the same. Equity is insuring everyone has what they need to be successful. Our ticket structure was built to insure that the most marginalized communities (people of color) are provided with an equitable chance at enjoying events in their own community (Black Detroit).”