Wes Watson spent years inside California’s prison system before rebuilding his life as a fitness coach and motivational speaker. In this clip from his 2020 London Real interview, Brian Rose asks him to describe what actually happens when a new prisoner arrives, and Watson walks him through a world of paperwork checks, racial segregation and strict unwritten rules.
It’s an uncomfortable six minutes, but it’s a rare first-hand account of how prison politics work, and how Watson used discipline to survive it.
▶ Watch the full episode: Wes Watson – 10 Years In Prison
The first thing they check
Watson describes a new arrival walking in with his bedroll and kit. Someone from his own racial group will meet him, help him to his cell, and ask for his paperwork: the record of what he has been charged with. They want to know exactly who he is and why he’s there.
If the conviction is for a crime against children, or for rape, Watson says, that person is in mortal danger. Brian asks why that is non-negotiable. Watson’s explanation is that the men inside are missing their own wives and children, and they won’t tolerate someone who harmed a child or a woman. He adds that there’s no hiding it: with phones smuggled inside, people will find out.
Segregated by design
Can a new prisoner choose to spend time with another group? No, Watson says. Prisons in the system he describes are segregated: separate tables in the day room, separate showers, sinks and exercise equipment for each group, and no sharing food. He lists the groups: white prisoners, Mexican nationals, Mexican-American gangs from Southern and Northern California, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and black prisoners.
Brian notes that it sounds like the American South in the 1930s. Watson agrees it sounds strange, but says it exists for security. Each group controls its own people, and alliances between groups stop a smaller group from being preyed on. In his account, the system is what keeps people alive.
“I was never racist”
Is it racist? Watson says he never was. He still talks to black men he met inside, and helps some of them with fitness. He mocks prisoners with swastika tattoos who insist one particular black man is “cool”. If one in 200 is, he says, then there are millions, so their whole position falls apart. “Broad generalisations are the epitome of ignorance,” he says.
Rules that build self-worth
Brian asks about the rules a new arrival would be given. There are many, Watson says: work out every day, get up at a set time, shower, stay off certain tables and paths. Why insist on training and early starts? Because sitting around all day leads to depression. The way you act, he argues, creates how you feel about yourself.
He describes forcing himself up even when he didn’t want to, knowing he’d feel better after training. “We’re just forcing them to stack wins,” he says, so they don’t feel like losers. He believes the same applies to people outside prison who sit around all day.
What to take from it
This is one man’s account of a brutal environment, and the violence and segregation he describes shouldn’t be romanticised. But the lesson he took out of it is a familiar one: self-worth is built through daily action, and small wins add up.
Who is Wes Watson?
Wes Watson is an American fitness coach and motivational speaker who served close to a decade in California prisons. Since his release he has built a large online following teaching discipline, fitness and personal accountability.
In his full 2020 London Real episode, he talks with Brian Rose about his time in prison and how jail taught him appreciation, gratitude and discipline.
See everything Wes Watson has done with London Real on his guest page: Wes Watson on London Real.
More on London Real
Transcript
Transcript: Wes Watson – Racial Gangs In Prison: How The System Inside Really Works
0:00 Wes Watson: You’re going to come rolling up with your bedroll and all the stuff, your fish kit that they gave you. You come into the building, and a white dude is going to come up and talk to you: “Oh, I’m Brian.” They’re going to help you to your cell, your rack, and then they’re going to ask for your paperwork. Paperwork is your arrest charges, everything you’ve been charged with in the prison system. They want to know who the f*ck you are and what you’re here for. If you’re here for a crime against kids, you’re dead. If you’re here for a crime that’s acceptable, then we’re going to work with you. You’re going to be part of our people. You have no choice: you’re white, you’re going to be in this gang, and that’s it.
0:33 Brian Rose: Crimes against kids and rape: why is that non-negotiable in there? Maybe it’s a silly question, because obviously it’s despicable.
0:41 Wes Watson: There are a bunch of people missing their families in there. Guys missing their wives, guys who’ll never see their kids again. “You were touching your own kid, and I’ll never see mine again? You’re f*cking dead. I’ll kill you.” And the same thing with a rape on a woman. “I’ll never see my wife again. I’m going to kill you.” And that’s it.
1:05 Brian Rose: So I need to go to the other side if that’s true. But if I try to sneak in?
1:09 Wes Watson: They’re going to find out with your paperwork. Even if you try to sneak in, they’re going to use cell phones and find out who you are. They can check you out, so don’t try.
1:19 Brian Rose: What if I just say I’m going to hang out with the black dudes, or the Mexicans?
1:23 Wes Watson: They won’t let you anywhere near them. No one’s going to let you. It’s segregated. The blacks are over here; they split up into their own cars, Bloods and Crips. The whites, the Paisas and the Southsiders are on one side of the day room. The prison itself is segregated, because they know it’s going to be that way. So one side of the day room will be tables for whites, tables for Southsiders, tables for Paisas, which are Mexican nationals, people from Mexico. Southsiders are Mexican-American gang members, from LA, San Diego, all over Southern California. On the other side of the room are the Northerners, the Northern Mexican-American gangs, then the others, Islanders and Asians, and then the blacks.
2:24 Wes Watson: That’s how the buildings are split up. We will never use the same bars, the same showers, the same sinks. We’ll never use the same stuff, never the same table. We’d never drink or eat from each other. It’s full segregation.
2:38 Brian Rose: Is it racist?
2:40 Wes Watson: No. I wasn’t racist. I talked to a lot of blacks in there who I still talk to now, who I help with fitness stuff, and we work together. I want people to do good. I’ve never been racist. Broad generalisations are the epitome of ignorance. Every skinhead in there with a swastika on him always says, “Well, that one black guy is cool.” And I’m like, dude, you don’t believe in maths, then. If that one is cool out of 200, then there are a million in the world who are cool to you. So you’re not racist. We just figured that out. You can take that sh*t off and walk away. Broad generalisations are bullsh*t. No prisoners are all like this, no white guys, no black guys, no bankers, no people from London.
3:31 Wes Watson: So the segregation itself is for security reasons, and that’s why it’s always going to be like this. It sounds like the South in the 1930s, and it’s weird for people to hear that people aren’t using the same bathrooms, but it’s set up that way because that’s what keeps everybody alive. It keeps everyone safe. It’s political. I don’t like the word police, but you control your people, I’ll control my people. That’s the only way it works. A black can’t prey on a white, a white can’t just start a fight with an Asian, because they’ll all jump in. And we have an alliance with the Southsiders in a lot of places, so if a fight starts, it’s cracking off with 150 people. You need the alliance, because the white population is small. Without an alliance, the small guy comes in and gets preyed on. Instead, he’s got his people to back him up.
4:24 Brian Rose: So when I walk in and someone checks my paperwork, what would Wes say to me?
4:29 Wes Watson: I wouldn’t say anything to you. I’d send someone to talk to you. I’d be on my bunk reading some super motivational, high-powered stuff, which is what I used to do, writing down quotes by hand, introspecting all day. Someone under me would know to go and grab your paperwork, check it, and come and talk to me about it. I might come and talk to you or not. I’d tell you once or twice: if we ask you for anything, the answer is yes. And then, as people grew and started working out with me, I grew friendships in there. Very few, but some.
5:13 Brian Rose: Would you give me a list of rules, or is that implied? What are the rules?
5:18 Wes Watson: There are a shitload of rules. You’ve got to work out every day, you’ve got to be up at a certain time, you’ve got to shower, you’ve got to make every unlock. You can’t eat with blacks, you can’t share food with anyone on the other side of the day room at all. You can’t sit at certain tables, you can’t walk certain paths, you can’t use certain exercise equipment.
5:36 Brian Rose: And why do I have to work out? Why do I have to get up early?
5:39 Wes Watson: To strengthen you. It’s basically what I’m selling out here: I’m going to create self-worth in you. If you’re just sitting there all day in prison, you’re going to be pretty depressed. People out here are in prison because they just sit there all day. They don’t realise they’re creating their internal feelings about themselves through their conduct and their actions. That’s why I forced myself up even when I didn’t want to. I know that if I get up and go work out, I’m going to feel great about myself. I’m going to get that win. So we’re just forcing them to stack wins, so they don’t feel like losers.
