Country music icon Dolly Parton recently voiced her support for the Black Lives Matter movement during her cover story of Billboard and is encouraging others to do the same.
“Of course Black lives matter,” Parton said in the Billboard interview. “Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No. Everybody matters” the 74-year-old said before going on to say, “All these good Christian people that are supposed to be such good Christian people, the last thing we’re supposed to do is to judge one another. God is the judge, not us. I just try to be myself. I try to let everybody else be themselves.”
Throughout her career, Parton has rarely spoken out about social issues. However, in recent years she has become much more vocal in regards to eradicating racism within the country music community, which has historically been segregated. In fact, Parton made her stance crystal clear by changing the name of her Tennessee and Missouri tourist attraction, The Dixie Stampede, due to “Dixie’s” connections to the Confederacy. The attraction is now called Dolly Parton’s Stampede.
The “Jolene” singer took accountability for what she refers to as “innocent ignorance.”
“There’s such a thing as innocent ignorance, and so many of us are guilty of that. When they said ‘Dixie’ was an offensive word, I thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to offend anybody. This is a business. We’ll just call it The Stampede'” Parton explained of her decision to change the name.
Parton is urging others to follow suit by swiftly acknowledging things or behaviors that can be seen as offensive to others.
“As soon as you realize that [something] is a problem, you should fix it. Don’t be a dumbass. That’s where my heart is. I would never dream of hurting anybody on purpose.”
"Of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!” –@DollyParton on supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement and protests.
Check out the full cover story here: https://t.co/AN9zNk1dRX pic.twitter.com/Oe1ZfZAl2t
— billboard (@billboard) August 14, 2020
