An event called "Afrofuture Fest" is being hosted in Detroit, Mich. on August 3 and is advertised as a day of "activating the land with eyes open to metaphysical travel" with a day parade, drum circle, and bonfire to "awaken space with spirits."  If that's your type of thing, tickets can be found here, but a quick disclaimer first: your ticket price will be based on the color of your skin.

If you are wondering how such blatant racism can be justified, according to their own ticket sale website, their logic is as follows:

Why do we have POC(People of color) [sic] and NonPOC(White People) [sic] tickets? I'm glad you asked! Equality means treating everyone the same. Equity is insuring everyone has what they need to be successful[.]

Ignoring the total irony of using the word "equality" to rationalize charging different prices based on race, the term "equity" as used is a trait, not an action one can impose.

The race-based price was being discussed heavily on social media yesterday.  Critics pointed out that those at Afrofuture Youth were so radicalized in modern intersectionality that they are attempting to use racism as a tool to fight...racism.  Nor do the event creators see it as the regressive act that it is despite being "woke."

Tiny Jag, a biracial rapper based in Detroit, who was initially excited to perform at the Afrofuture, pulled out of the festival yesterday after learning about the price discrimination.  In an interview with Metro Times, she says she found out about the racial pay model only when a white friend sent her a screenshot of the ticket sales.  Graham says:

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.

The founder of the event shot back at the performer on Twitter, retweeting a take on Tiny Jag's interview saying, "The framing of this is...dishonest. She pulled out because she doesn't understand Equity & the purpose of a sliding scale as tool [sic] for marginalized folks... or discrimination or racism... or light skin privilege of her proximity to whiteness..."

In other words, supporters of the racial pay scale are claiming that the entertainer was black enough to perform at this Afrocentrism affair but not black enough to understand why.

Whose idea was this, anyway?

Adrienne "Numi" Ayers started Afrofuture Youth in 2018 using crowdsourced funding as well as sponsorship from Allied Media Projects to create a program that acts as a "response to the issues of social inequiteis [sic] that create disadvantages for black communities."

According to Ayers's own Allied Media biography, she currently attends the University of Detroit Mercy as a Masters candidate in the community development program after obtaining her Bachelor's from Eastern Michigan University.

Someone privileged enough to spend the better half of a decade in higher education in America is assuming that any "non–person of color" is, by default, in a better position in life solely because of his race, therefore it is morally necessary to charge him more for the same music festival.  

Author's note: Connect with Taylor Day on Twitter at @TABYTCHI since it's the only social media she's not currently banned from using.