tattoo

 

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/kentucky-tattoo-parlor-offers-to-cover-up-hate-tattoos-for-free/

A Tattoo parlour in Kentucky, USA, has started to raise money so they can offer a free service to cover up racist tattoos or gang member tattoos that people are now ashamed of and want to remove.

The owners of Gallery X Art Collective, Jeremiah and Ryun, said they were inspired by the Black Lives Matters movement. They wanted to do their part to end discrimination and support those who have had the courage to leave their hateful past behind. In the first week they received 30 requests.

Jeremiah said; “A lot of people when they were younger just didn’t know any better and were left with mistakes on their bodies. We just want to make sure everybody has the chance to change.”

He says a Dad came to them with a large swastika on his chest. The Dad was so embarrassed about his tattoo today that he never took off his shirt around his children.

Their first client was a woman who had a confederate flag tattooed on her ankle. The flag is a symbol of racism as it was the flag used by soldiers in the American Civil War who wanted to keep slavery. The woman got the tattoo when she was 18. She says it was a youthful mistake and she didn’t know any better as she grew up in an all-white neighbourhood where the confederate flag was often flown with pride. It wasn’t till she moved to a new town and made new friends and got involved in campaigns to end racism that she feels her mind was opened.

“Every time I attended a group meeting or protest, I make a new friend. And I don’t want to be standing next to them with a confederate flag on my leg!”

-        What is a tattoo, why do people have tattoos?

-        Why would someone choose to have a racist tattoo?

-        why can’t they just take the tattoo off?

-        What is a swastika? Why is the Dad keeping his shirt on in front of his children?

-        If the Dad is so embarrassed, why did he have the tattoo in the first place?

-        “We just want to make sure everybody has the chance to change” – why?

-        What does this show us about ideas and how they can change? How do ideas change?

-        What made the woman with a confederate flag change her mind?

-        What does having an “open mind” mean?

-        What can we learn from this woman and from this story?

How can we make sure in our school we have open minds?

why is this about no outsiders?