Racially tiered ticket prices
Chris Lynch reports:
A Christchurch bar has threatened to cancel a music event if the promoters don’t change their racially tiered ticket pricing model.
Browntown, founded last year by Devyn Baileh, Grace Colcord, and Shea Wātene, promotes itself as a platform for cultural engagement aimed at addressing racism.
However, its ticketing structure for the “Sunday Sessions” music event at Muy Muy in late January has sparked accusations of racism.
Tickets for the event, featuring artists such as King Kapisi, were sold at three price points. “Early bird (for all Tangata): $15, Tangata Moana (for our Māori and Pacific Tangata): $20 and Tangata Tiriti (for our allies): $30.”
Critics argue that the pricing breaches New Zealand’s Human Rights Act 1993, which prohibits discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or national origin in the provision of goods, services, and access to public venues.
Members of the Pacifica community told chrislynchmedia.com the pricing was “appalling.”
Last year, Brown Town received $35,000 from Creative New Zealand’s Creative Impact Fund (Pacific arts) to deliver a yearlong series of free creative workshops and forums for Tangata Moana communities in Christchurch.
Creative New Zealand said the grant aimed to “ensure New Zealanders participate in the arts.”
Of course they got funding from the taxpayer!
“This is a blatant attempt to manufacture victimhood, and Creative New Zealand fell for it. Charging higher prices for white people doesn’t foster unity; it drives a wedge between communities,” they said.
However, Browntown Founder and Director Grace Colcord defended the pricing model as part of the group’s commitment to accessibility and equity.
She told chrislynchmedia.com “In line with our kaupapa, we recognise that systemic inequities have historically impacted Māori and Pacific communities in many ways, including access to arts and cultural events. By offering tiered pricing, we aim to reduce financial barriers for Tangata Moana, ensuring they can engage fully with an event designed to celebrate their culture and creativity,” Colcord said.
There is a racist assumption to this – that all Maori are poor and all non-Maori are well off. If they want to reduce financial barriers they can do that by having a lower price for low income people.
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