Its not because he's black. For any cancelled/postponed event its natural for people to prefer refunds over waiting it out for a postponed date.
All this. I will use this as a reference for you.
I was going to take my nephew to the NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) convention / career fair this past march. So that he could interview for internships. He is majoring in electrical engineering in college.
The total cost to attend the convention was around 500 bucks. $300 for me as a professional and $100 for my nephew since he is a student.
So I pay the $500 bucks in February. The covid 19 situatuon starts and NSBE moves the conference to August.
NSBE then sends an email asking will I attend with my Nephew or cancel. They give 3 options. To attend, cancel and get credit for next years conference or cancel and get a refund. Due to having plans in August I decide to cancel and get a refund.
NSBE is a black organization that was started by black folks, organized by black folks and currently ran by black folks. Even they had the option to cancel and receive a full refund. So all this talk about what Tariq can't do and shouldn't do involving folks money and potential refund is garbage.