The Detroit music festival AfroFuture attracted criticism this past weekend after it was revealed that it was charging different amounts for white attendees and those identifying as POC (people color). How the festival would determine genealogy was never addressed. However, after biracial rapper Tiny Jag pulled out the festival over the controversy, the festival gained national attention.
“I was immediately enraged just because I am biracial. 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 anything that I have going on,” Tiny Jag told the Detroit Metro Times.
AfroFuture’s pricing structure was: Early bird tickets for “POC” were $10 and $20 for “Non POC.” Later date pricing tiers fered “POC” tickets for $20 and “Non POC” tickets for $40.
On Sunday, the festival responded to criticism and changed the structure.
“For the safety our community, family, elders who received threats from white supremacists, & youth who were subjected to seeing racist comments on our IG pg, Afruture Fest has changed our ticketing model to $20 General Admission & suggested donation for nonPOC on @eventbrite,” organizers announced on Twitter late Sunday.
That being said, it is still against Eventbrite’s Terms & Conditions to use a pricing structure based on characteristics protected by Title II the Civil Rights Act 1964.
“We do not permit events that require attendees to pay different prices based on their protected characteristics such as race or ethnicity,” a rep told the Independent.
For now, AfroFuture is still going on as planned.