Country legend Dolly Parton recently addressed the current global and U.S. racial tension, giving her support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen,” Parton told Billboard about the protests.
"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
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Dolly Parton: ‘Of course black lives matter’
“And of course black lives matter,” she continued. “Do we think our little white a**es are the only ones that matter? No!”
“There’s such a thing as innocent ignorance, and so many of us are guilty of that,” Parton told Billboard, adding: “…as soon as you know that [something] is a problem, you should fix it.”
Dolly Parton on naming things in ways that celebrate the Confederacy: "Don't be a dumbass." https://t.co/kCUySJ5GA0 pic.twitter.com/SPAr0q8TZN
— Stephen Elliott (@ElliottStephenB) August 13, 2020
Parton: ‘That’s where my heart is. I would never dream of hurting anybody on purpose’
“Don’t be a dumba**” Parton said. “That’s where my heart is. I would never dream of hurting anybody on purpose.”
In the interview, Parton also addressed the decision in 2018 to rename the popular Dollywood themed dinner spectacle that used to be known as Dixie Stampede, the name of which has since been changed to Dolly Parton’s Stampede.
“When they said ‘Dixie’ was an offensive word, I thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to offend anybody. This is a business,” Parton said. “We’ll just call it the Stampede.’”
“Dixie” is typically associated with the American South before slavery was abolished.
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Parton not the first musical artist to adjust their business model over this issue
The term was popularized by songwriter Daniel Emmett, According to The Atlantic, who was a star of minstrel shows. Today, minstrel shows are considered by most people to have been racially inappropriate.
Two years later, after Parton renamed “Dixie Stampede,” country musical acts Lady Antebellum and The Dixie Chicks also changed their names.
Now Lady Antebellum is known as Lady A, and the former Dixie Chicks are now just The Chicks.
Both bands announced the name changes this summer.