A New Jersey tattoo artist has offered to cover up racist or hate-filled ink for free — saying change “starts with yourself,” according to a report.
Esmailin Sanchez, who co-owns Chakra Tattoos in Old Bridge, has already received 10 requests after he put out the offer last week on Instagram, NJ.com reported.
“I feel like I’m helping to fix the past every time I do a cover-up,” Sanchez said of the ink jobs, according to the report.
Sanchez, who is Dominican, said he has had cover-up appointments with motorcycle gang members, white supremacists and Bloods.
While working on the ink jobs, he said that he tries to dig deeper to find out why they’re looking to cover-up the tattoos.
“Are you doing this because you’re trying to get a job? Or, you had an experience that now you see things completely different?” Sanchez said. “It can be different things and I don’t know until they get into the chair.”
He said the cover-up tattoos typically run $250 to $300 per hour, but he put out the offer to do it for free to help facilitate change.
“It’s my contribution to making the world better. If you want change, it starts with yourself,” Sanchez told the outlet.