It’s easy to make fun of Juggalos, the oft-misunderstood fans of clown-painted rappers Insane Clown Posse, but some on the left are embracing them as a line of defense against white supremacy in the U.S. The Juggalo March on Washington, a protest against the government’s classification of Juggalos as a gang, will take place at the National Mall on Sept. 16, the same day as the pro-Trump “Mother of All Rallies.” There’s no love lost between the two sides.
“Let’s make sure we make more noise than those bitch Neo-Nazies, am I right? whoop whoop,” one poster wrote on the Juggalo March event page, which is full of communist and working-class Juggalo memes. It’s possible that internet socialists are the ones pushing the meme that Juggalos are the new communist vanguard, but the response on the page is mostly positive.
And, to some, Juggalos have always been “woke,” so it comes as no surprise that they would take a stand against the alt-right, the loosely affiliated conservative wing that harbors white supremacists.
My favorite thing in the world is when everyone finds out juggalos are woke as fuck every like 2 years
— Fujoshi’s Island (@Dauragon) August 16, 2017
Juggalos call themselves a “family,” and, as a group they’ve long been anti-racist, anti-KKK, and anti-Nazi. ICP has songs decrying “redneck” racists and has rapped about “scalping skinheads” and “shitting on a rebel flag.” Their fans were quick to condemn reality star Tila Tequila when she came out as a Nazi.
https://twitter.com/saladinahmed/status/898023500274962432
https://twitter.com/jxfxsunshine/status/898264580182482944
And ICP have already burnt a Confederate flag on stage, so their credentials to fight the people who enjoy statues of Robert E. Lee are impeccable.
The natural overlap between working-class Juggalos and the internet’s Democratic Socialists is strong—the two groups could unite to become brothers in the “struggalo.” Many on the left are already expressing their optimism about ICP fans as allies.
https://twitter.com/danacbell/status/897996244571664387
https://twitter.com/ConnorSouthard/status/898199733281460224
https://twitter.com/dubsteppenwolf/status/898030400676777985
https://twitter.com/3liza/status/897963216457695233
https://twitter.com/AlexCercone/status/897963113248686080
Not a drop of sarcasm, but Juggalos are ideal antifascist allies: working class, apolitical, antiracist, and hate cops.
🏴🏴🤡🗡✊🏿✊🏽✊🏻🏴🏴
— @carlwilhoyte on Bluesky (@Voodoo_Pork) August 18, 2017
No one thought the American culture wars would come down to a battle between fans of a clown rap group and fans of a reality TV businessman (who happens to be the president), but when you really think about it, it was inevitable:
https://twitter.com/TweetsByTheTony/status/898258761609072640
Let’s avoid a second civil war out there, people. Whoop whoop!
