Of Racists and Juggalos

 (Don't know what PCY is? Read this post first.)

One problem at least that PCY does not have is racism. There are many Caucasians, Blacks, Hispanics, and a few Asians all living together and no one really seems to give a shit or notice. The rare occasions that someone says or does something racist people just kind of stare with a "are you seriously doing that?" expression.


Lights out in PCY, like everything else in PCY, is chaotic at best. The line for the mats starts forming at around 7:30 and staff start handing out mats at 8:00. In order to get a mat you have to turn your badge in, you get the badge back in the morning when you return the mat. You are also given the choice of either a single sheet or a single warm, but somewhat small, green blanket. The blankets are the most popular choice.( Despite the fact that everything is washed everyday, the sheets are white and stains tend to be more obvious)


The women have a special designated area to sleep in, a long narrow strip that has the only outdoor shelter from the rain. Women are the only ones outside who get designated sleeping areas and these double as personal belonging storage during the day. (If you want to keep your stuff somewhat safe and accessible, you need a girlfriend.) The women's area is very neat and the women sleep lined up in rows. The men get the rest of the courtyard. As a result the men are very disorganized, there is a great deal of open room so its catch as catch can. Popular areas usually have some combination of distance from the sewer grate/garbage cans and shelter from the streetlights that never turn off. Friends sleep next to each other to increase safety against theft. Shoes/boots are tucked under the mat where you lay your pillow. This is done to prevent the theft of your shoes while you sleep. The thinking is that if they try your head will get moved and you will wake up.

One night shortly after lights out I was just getting settled down onto my mat for the night. There was alot of chatter still going on(there was always alot of chatter going on) but I guess it was just one thing too many for this middle aged Hispanic fellow. I had a good view of all this, because by rotten luck I was laying almost directly in the middle of it. He got up from his mat and started yelling about

"There is so much noise, the staff should shut you up. Your all jumping around like a bunch of fucking monkeys." At the word monkeys a younger black guy gets up from his mat.

"What did you say?"

"I said your all jumping around like a bunch of fucking monkeys."

"That's what I thought." They started screaming at each other for, and a crowd started to gather. The Hispanic fellow started making increasingly racist remarks until he finally said something along the lines of

"Someone needs to put you fucking monkeys down." At which point the black guy started to rush at the Hispanic guy, but was held back by two of the bigger dudes at PCY. One Black and one White. The Hispanic guy starts to antagonize the black guy and drop the N-word like its going out of style. The black guy is freaking out and doing everything he can to get loose from the people holding him back. Very quickly about five guards rush over and break it up. They quickly surround and drag the Hispanic guy away. While a few people try to calm down the Black guy the guards decide to throw the Hispanic guy out for the night. During this lull a crowd starts to gather around.




People are excited, and guards are trying to keep order. The Black guy is starting to calm down, but still has to be restrained by the two big guys. People are shouting, a chant of "fight fight fight" goes up and is quickly quelled by a guard. After a minute something vaguely resembling order starts to return and voices start to lower.


Under escort five guards bring the Hispanic guy back to his mat so that he can at least grab his blankets, but he instantly starts throwing the N-word and other racial slurs . The Black guy gets heated again and nearly breaks loose from the guys holding him back, and bumps into a guard in the process. A bunch of people start shouting. The guards grab the Hispanic guy and practically carry him sideways and almost literally throw his ass out of PCY. Meanwhile other guards calm down the excited crowd and talk some sense into the Black guy. Staff reviews the video of the incident and decide that since the Black guy made contact with one of the guards he has to go out for the night too. So they give the Black guy one Night out, and the Hispanic guy got a week. The Black guy cooperates, but is clearly pissed and vows that the first thing he is gonna do outside is track the Hispanic guy down and beat his ass. The guards kind of shrug because there is nothing they can do about whatever happens outside of PCY.

As soon as the Black guy leaves the two big guys who were holding him back have a little conference among themselves. As it turns out they were both Juggalos. They both put on clown makeup and head out into the night to track down the Hispanic guy. They find him under an overpass somewhere, beat his ass, toy with him a bit, then call 911 and leave him by the pay phone they called from. Then they came back into PCY in the morning and looked the most relaxed and happiest I ever saw those guys. A week later the Hispanic guy was back in PCY (with a limp) and no one said anything to him about it.