A biracial rapper has pulled out of a planned music festival in her hometown of Detroit after she learned that whites were being charged twice as much as minority spectators.
Jillian Graham, who is known to her fans by the stage name Tiny Jag, says that she learned of the separate price tier for ‘non-people of color’ after a white friend sent her a screenshot of the festival program to her Instagram account.
Those looking to attend the AfroFuture Fest in the Grosse Pointe Park section of Detroit on August 3 were charged $20 for an ‘early bird non-POC ticket’ while an ‘early bird POC ticket’ cost $10.
Jillian Graham, who is known to her fans by the stage name Tiny Jag, won’t be performing at a music festival in Detroit next month after she learned that whites are being charged double to attend compared to people of color
‘I was immediately enraged just because I am biracial,’ Tiny Jag told the Metro Times of Detroit
Tiny Jag was initially slated to appear at AfroFuture fest on August 3 in Detroit
Those looking to attend the AfroFuture Fest in the Grosse Pointe Park section of Detroit on August 3 were charged $20 for an ‘early bird non-POC ticket’ while an ‘early bird POC ticket’ cost $10
Those tickets were sold out, according to Eventbrite.
The festival was also giving away ‘POC tickets’ for free.
‘I was immediately enraged just because I am biracial,’ Tiny Jag told the Metro Times of Detroit.
‘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 says she inquired with festival officials about the ticket pricing. When they confirmed the tiered pricing, she made the decision to back out.
Tiny Jag also asked festival organizers to remove her name and likeness from all promotional material related to the event.
On Twitter, Tiny Jag wrote: ‘You tell my grandma to pay a cent more than anybody else I’m beating somebody a** and it’s not hers.’
‘Props to Tiny Jag for standing up on principle and pulling out of the performance,’ tweeted fellow rapper Zuby. ‘Want people to recognise that.’
Another supporter of Tiny Jag wrote that charging whites more is a bad business decision since it risks alienating potential customers. ‘Stop letting your White Liberal Allies lie to you, b,’ wrote businessman Hotep Doobs. ‘They are NOT “okay with Paying More”.’
The festival is being billed as a fundraiser for an organization which promotes the arts among the black youth of Detroit.
Tiny Jag says that she was offended by the fact that her white grandmother would have had to pay more to attend.
‘A lot of the songs that I perform are from my first project called Polly — that is my grandmother’s name,’ she says.
‘How do you want me to come to a performance and perform these songs off a mixtape that is titled after this white woman that you would have charged double to get in here?
‘Like, it’s just outrageous from so many different angles.’
The festival organizers wrote on the Eventbrite page that the event is about ‘co-creating the future necessary for Black thriving’ and to support ‘equality’ and ‘equity.’
‘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),’ the event organizers wrote.
‘Affording joy and pleasure is unfortunately still a privilege in our society for POC and we believe everyone should have access to receiving such.’
But Tiny Jag says she is not convinced. She says charging whites more to attend does not solve the problem.
Ijeoma Oluo tweeted: ‘My white mom would be PROUD to pay more because she understands the history of economic exploitation of black folk in this country to benefit whiteness & she wants a better future for black folk, including her black kids’
Danie Steel, an actor based in New York, tweeted that the two-tiered pricing system is ‘about leveling the playing field’
‘It’s non-progressive and it’s not solution-focused in my eyes,’ she says.
‘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.’
She said she struggled with the decision to pull out of the event because she was afraid of alienating her fans.
‘It’s not fun to withdraw out of shows, especially at home, especially in your hometown, and especially when your supporters have been so good to you,’ she says.
‘It’s also not fun to do that to my fellow Black women, like that sucks too. It sucks that this is a thing that’s put a wedge here.’
Her decision to cancel her participation in the festival was a hot topic of debate on Twitter, with supporters saying she was right while opponents blasted her.
‘Props to Tiny Jag for standing up on principle and pulling out of the performance,’ tweeted fellow rapper Zuby.
‘Want people to recognise that.’
Another supporter of Tiny Jag wrote that charging whites more is a bad business decision since it risks alienating potential customers.
‘Stop letting your White Liberal Allies lie to you, b,’ wrote businessman Hotep Doobs.
‘They are NOT “okay with Paying More”.
‘They front like they do, stop shopping with you altogether and now you outta business.
‘It’s not “bad press”, it’s just a failing business model, beloved.’
But some on Twitter said that the history of racial discrimination in America makes it necessary to correct an injustice using a number of methods.
‘Gawd this is embarrassing,’ tweeted a biracial woman.
‘My white mom would be PROUD to pay more because she understands the history of economic exploitation of black folk in this country to benefit whiteness & she wants a better future for black folk, including her black kids.’
Danie Steel, an actor based in New York, tweeted: ‘I don’t care what [Tiny Jag] does and a MINORITY group that was formerly enslaved and currently oppressed can’t practice systematic racism on the dominant group.
‘Name ONE place in the world where people of color are practicing structural and systematic racism against the dominant group?’