The AfroFuture music and arts festival in Detroit is facing controversy after ticket sales began to use different pricing for people based on the color of their skin.
The pricing offers lower rates for tickets purchased by “people of color” than it does for “non-people of color.” Early bird tickets for “POC” are $10 and $20 for “Non POC.” Later date pricing offers “POC” tickets for $20 and “Non POC” tickets for $40. The method of confirming race and identity of ticket purchasers was not immediately clear.
The organizers of the event, which is scheduled to take place on Aug. 3, explained their discriminatory pricing in the “frequently asked questions” section of their event website. It states, “Why do we have POC (people of color) and NONPOC (white people) tickets? I’m glad you asked! Equality means treating everyone the same. Equity is insuring (sic) everyone has what they need to be successful. Our ticket structure was built to insure (sic) that the most marginalized communities (people of color) are provided with an equitable chance at enjoying events in their own community (black Detroit),” the page said.
One planned AfroFuture artist was particularly displeased when she learned of AfroFuture’s pricing plan. Tiny Jag, a biracial rapper based in Detroit, pulled out of the event and insisted AfroFuture Fest remove her name from all promotional material. “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 of anything that I have going on,” she told the Detroit Metro Times.
Tiny Jag further said of the ticketing policy, “It’s non-progressive and it’s not solution-focused in my eyes. It seems almost like it has spite, and unfortunately with spite comes hate, and that’s just not obviously going to be a good direction for us to go if we’re looking for positive change.”
The legality of AfroFuture’s ticket policy is questionable. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title II states, “All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.” The section describes places of public accommodation to include “any motion picture house, theater, concert hall, sports arena, stadium or other place of exhibition or entertainment.”
