((PKG))  COVERING UP RACIALLY SENSITIVE TATTOOS
((TRT:  04:26))
((Banner:  A Change of Art))
((Reporter/Camera:  Lisa Vohra))
((Additional Camera:  Philip Alexiou))
((Map:  Fredericksburg, Virginia))
((Main characters:  1 Male))
((Sub Characters:  1 female))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
I feel that us, as the white community, that we hold a very strong responsibility to speak up and be heard.
((Stills Courtesy:  Jeremiah Hirsch))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
My name is Jeremiah Hirsch and I am the owner of Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
Erase the hate is a campaign that we put together to cover up racist and offensive tattoos.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Stills Courtesy:  Jeremiah Hirsch))
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
I started to post information and stuff to raise awareness about Black Lives Matter and towards the Black community.  And in doing so, I had a gentleman that I went to high school with that reached out to me 
((Stills Courtesy:  Jeremiah Hirsch))
about having a Confederate flag tattoo on his foot that he was embarrassed of and it was hitting him even harder 
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
seeing the stuff that I was posting.  And he asked if we would work with him on covering it up.  So I went to the guys in the shop and I was like, ‘Hey, I think this would be a really good opportunity for us 
((Stills Courtesy:  Jeremiah Hirsch))
to help this guy out and cover it up, document it and then post it and then launch this campaign of Erase the hate.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jackie Williamson, Client))
I want to cover up this tattoo that I got a long time ago.  I’m getting rid of this heart here with this Confederate flag in it.   
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
The tattoo is free but we ask for a minimum donation for $100 that will go to one of the organizations that we’re working with, that goes directly to the Black community.  
((NATS:
Client:  Looks good.))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Stills Courtesy:  Jeremiah Hirsch))
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
People have really been behind what we’re doing.  I mean you do have some, like, a handful that are, like, against it.  Their argument is that it’s heritage, not hate and that it’s a symbolism of, you know, state freedom and stuff like that.  But I feel, you know, not to be disrespectful, but I feel at the same time they’re not very educated in the history of what it’s behind and what it stands for and what the different declarations of the Confederacy was for.  It was to keep and instill slavery. 
((Stills Courtesy:  United States Slave Trade, 1830 / Library of Congress)) 
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
From my own experience and convictions that I’ve had, just seeing daily interactions and stuff like that, showed me my privilege.  
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
Being a white male in America and seeing the unjust acts and treatment towards the Black community and the huge difference between those two.  
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
I wanted to get involved as much as I could.  So, I started actively going to protests.  
((Video Courtesy:  Jeremiah Hirsch))
((NATS:
Black lives matter.  Cops kill us every day.))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
I’m a single dad with four kids and I’ve always led by an example that we see someone by their heart and their actions and that love is love, that it’s universal.  
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
Everything deserves a chance and the opportunity to live and be loved.  My upbringing, my parents were preachers and was raised in the Christian faith and as I got older and ventured out on my own, I experienced other religions and stuff.  I really connected with Buddhist and Hindu traditions and really found this parallel between religions and understanding that the universal importance is empathy, love and compassion.  
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jeremiah Hirsch, Owner, Electric Pair O’ Dice Tattoo))
And then I see this connection between them and between human beings as a whole, and that being present here in this moment and where we are as a nation, is very important that we need this progressive push forward for equality for every human being that’s on this planet, especially the Black community where they’re affected most.  
((NATS/MUSIC))