dolly parton’s black lives matter support surprises, but shouldn’t.
The famously apolitical country icon’s proclamation speaks to the sustained impact of today's racial justice movement.
When I first read Billboard magazine’s new profile of Dolly Parton, it wasn’t hard to predict that a couple of paragraphs three quarters of the way into the lengthy cover story would soon be grabbing international headlines.
As you’ve probably read by now, the 74-year-old Parton exclaimed, seemingly in response to a question about the protest movement set into motion by the police killing of George Floyd earlier this summer, that “of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!”
The statement surely caught some of Parton’s more conservative fans off guard. Multiple comments on the post of a story about the interview on Fox News’ Facebook page (where I often head to gauge how the MAGA crowd is reacting to a news event) expressed disappointment in the statement. Others in the All Lives Matter crowd suggested that what Parton really intended to say was their signature dogwhistle (to be fair, in a video version of the interview Billboard has also shared, Parton did add “Everybody matters” to the end of her response). Conservative commentator DeAnna Lorraine tweeted that her “heart is literally broken” and that “it’s time to #BoycottDolly.” And Unknown Hinson, a voice actor also known as Stuart Baker who is employed by an Adult Swim show I’ve never heard of, said in a now-deleted Facebook rant that “now this freak titted, old Southern bimbo is a BLM Lover? Remember, slut, Rednecks made you a Millionaire!”
Putting the inaccuracies of that statement aside — for one, surely she’s a billionaire by now? — Parton’s more level-headed fans may have been a bit surprised too.
(Dolly Parton/Facebook)
The pop culture icon has consistently resisted making political statements over the years. In 2009, Parton had very little to say in an NPR interview about the historic election of President Obama, saying it was “very interesting” and “a wonderful time in our lives.” In 2012, she tweeted “I never, ever get involved in #politics. With politics you are not allowed to be honest. I don’t have time to deal with that.” And leading up to the presidential election in 2016, Parton issued a statement clarifying that a comment perceived as an endorsement of Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump was nothing of the sort, adding that she hadn’t decided, at that point, who she’d vote for.
That same year, I saw Parton perform live for the second time (though the first time was a very brief appearance she made at the Chicago opening of the 9 to 5 musical in 2011) at Ravinia. In the midst of the heated campaign season, she attracted a euphoric crowd that was among the most diverse (in terms of age, race and sexuality) I’ve ever seen at a concert, and avoided any mention of politics during her between-song banter.
WNYC’s Peabody Award-winning podcast Dolly Parton’s America explored Parton’s apolitical stance in depth last year. In addition to her rejection of the label of “feminist” on the podcast, Parton referenced “what happened to the Dixie Chicks” as she discussed her frustration over being lumped in with her 9 to 5 co-stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda’s thinly-veiled jab at Trump during the 2017 Emmys.
“It’s scary. No matter what you say, it’s wrong,” Parton said on the podcast about her decision to stay out of politics before adding: “I know that when the time comes, I will speak out.”
It appears Parton may have now come to the realization that that time is now — and maybe more is coming. And the decision feels more personal to me than a simple business calculation. At this point in her career, I strongly doubt she does anything without feeling strongly about doing so, and she absolutely knew what she was doing when she made the comment. It seems likely the movement has moved her. Parton’s sister, recording artist and activist Stella Parton, publicly stated she was “ashamed” of her sister for not using her platform to speak out more, so it’s possible that her own family’s dynamic may have also played a role. (And there may have been more factors at play, as this Twitter thread from Appalachian historian and WYU professor Dr. Jessie Wilkerson argues.)
Meanwhile, The Chicks (now minus the “Dixie,” just like Parton’s own Stampede) are on something of a redemption tour with their first new album in 14 years (the well-regarded Gaslighter) landing the trio back at the top of the Billboard charts. (The band has also continued to be politically outspoken with their progressive politics, and will also be performing during the Democratic National Convention next week.) And another formerly famously uncontroversial Taylor Swift has stuck to a more political public stance, tweeting this week that “Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president. He’s chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power.”
Will Parton’s BLM support impact her fan base? Last night, in my first time DJing the Boardwalk Batavia Shops, I played a “Jolene” remix near the end of my set. Batavia leans decidedly more to the right than Chicago to be sure, but at no point in the song did anyone in attendance rush the table and protest the song being played. Instead, the song felt perfect for that moment, and I’m pretty sure I heard at least a few “yes!”es squealed out when the song started.
As Nina Simone once said, “an artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.” It’s refreshing and overdue to see more artists, particularly one vaunted as one of an increasingly few talents everyone can agree on, answering the call of the horrific and historic times we are living in today.
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Act: Listen, we all know the U.S. Postal Service is struggling right now. In many parts of the country, the mail is being delivered with major delays, and many fear (especially after Trump has seemingly admitted it) that the agency is being intentionally obstructed in an effort to aggressively hamper what is expected to be a record mail-in voting push this fall.
So what can we do? By all means, buy stamps, but don’t stop there. Maybe consider contacting the six (all white, all male) Trump-appointed members of the USPS Board of Governors, who Postmaster General Louis DeJoy ultimately answers to. A number of additional actions, including urging elected officials to push for hearings and investigations of DeJoy’s directives and tour local USPS facilities, can be found here.
Listen: Keeping this week’s country music theme going, let’s talk about Orville Peck’s new EP, Show Pony. The release not only features a cover of Reba McEntire’s Fancy, but also a duet with the (problematic-though-she-apologized) Shania Twain. The song is great, and the video features Twain wearing a gold-fringed leopard bodysuit recalling her iconic “That Don’t Impress Me Much” look, as well as a cameo from Milwaukee’s own RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Jaida Essence Hall. This is a step in the right direction, Shania. Stream Show Pony.
Read: There are some truly important and somewhat depressing long reads out there this week worth calling out: In Rolling Stone, anthropologist Wade Davis discusses how the pandemic is signaling the end of the American era. NBC News has a story on how COVID-19 helped the conspiracy theory-fueled QAnon movement grow (and features interesting remarks from a woman featured in one of those viral anti-mask Target tantrums). And The Atlantic outlined how a radically different approach to testing for and responding to the coronavirus in the U.S. could help bring some normalcy to our lives much sooner than you might think.
But wow, this week has been a lot. It turns out that getting back into the day-to-day work grind after a week spent nuzzling with alpacas and smelling blooms at the Botanic Garden is somewhat challenging, folks! So this, you cool cats and kittens, is actually the story I’m following most closely: the beef between Carole Baskin (remember Tiger King!?) and Cardi B. After Baskin criticized the use of big cats in the video for “WAP,” Cardi B called the criticism “ridiculous” and told i-D, “girl, you know you killed your goddamn husband.” In response, Baskin said Cardi B of deflecting. She’s gonna end up in a verse, isn’t she?!
Watch: Maya Rudolph was on a Zoom panel for EW when she first heard the news (from Angela Bassett, from whom I also receive all my political news) that Joe Biden had chosen Kamala Harris (who she’s frequently impersonated on SNL) as his running mate. This was her live reaction:
