Read on Twitter
Dolly Parton said Black Lives Matter. That’s important. (a thread) https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/country/9432581/dolly-parton-country-power-players-billboard-cover-story-interview-2020
She knows that her stating BLM is powerful, that it would become a headline. She speaks from an industry (country music) and a place (the South and Appalachia) where too few white folks will claim Black Lives Matter.
She also lives in a state where protests have been erupting—from Memphis to Nashville to Knoxville & everywhere in between. In Nashville, activists rallied to defund the police & created an autonomous zone they called the Ida B. Wells Plaza.
They tore down the statue of a man who incited a riot against Wells. https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/12/nashville-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone-not-tolerated-gov-bill-lee/3176168001/
And now they are being punished and criminalized by TN Republicans: https://www.newschannel5.com/news/activists-protest-as-demonstration-bill-discussed-in-special-session
Dolly is responding to the moment, and that’s something to celebrate. She knows her multiracial fan base looks to her, and they probably pushed her, too. I also like to think that her sister @StellaParton has been riding her ass for a while.
To Black fans of Dolly, I understand the significance of a powerful white celebrity acknowledging that Black Lives Matter. I understand savoring that. I know that it’s due ultimately to the long hard work of Black activists.
To white Dolly fans, especially those in the places I come from, I know that Dolly saying BLM can help us in our own conversations with families, as we push our folks to be and do better.
To white Dolly fans who were *already* ready to build monuments to her, let’s talk. Let’s consider how she situates her position and what she does and does not say in the Billboard article. I'm glad for her statement, but the context is complex, as usual.
It’s striking to me that the article is mostly about her business decisions and investments. We all know this, but let it be repeated: she is a (Christian) businesswoman first and foremost, and that’s about the only thing she ever makes abundantly clear.
I was struck by what the article claims about Dixie Stampede--using the name change as evidence of her "unequivocal" stand against racial injustice.
In the Billboard article she says: "“There’s such a thing as innocent ignorance, and so many of us are guilty of that,” she says now. “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.’ 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.”
Billboard notes in parentheses: "(At the time, the Dollywood Company said it was also eyeing an international expansion and noted that “Dixie” wouldn’t translate abroad.)"
For whatever reason, Dolly is rewriting the publicly stated decision to change the name of Dixie Stampede. Perhaps that’s b/c she’s been pushed or because U.S. culture, and in particular white folks’ opinion, is changing and she recognizes that, but it’s worth lingering over.
Especially because Billboard is downplaying Dolly's very own explanation *at the time* that the company made the change and rewriting their position (which maybe has changed, but that's not what the article says).
In 2018, in the aftermath of Charlottesville and a viral article about Dixie Stampede as campy Lost Cause dinner show, Dolly gave her own explanation, one that said nothing about racism or "offending" people:
“Our shows currently are identified by where they are located. Some examples are Smoky Mountain Adventures or Dixie Stampede....
We also recognize that attitudes change and feel that by streamlining the names of our shows, it will remove any confusion or concerns about our shows and will help our efforts to expand into new cities.”
Back then in 2018, you all were just confused about Dixie. And the name change was just a business decision. I'm going out on a limb here, but I guess her sorta owning up to Dixie being offensive (not racist Lost Cause promoting theater, but offensive!) is also about business.
Also, by Dolly’s own logic, if Dixie cont. to make money and if it seemed palatable across the globe, and if you all didn't start talking so much about racism and BLM, then it'd probably be okay to keep it. Because it probably wouldn't be so….confusing….or offensive.
By Dollywood Company logic, racism is a problem when it hurts business. Not because it undermines our democracy or harms our communities, but because it hurts the bottom line. We can celebrate that change, but confusing it with antiracism just isn't helpful.
Has Dolly’s view on this changed? Maybe. I hope so. But I don’t buy that she didn’t know that Dixie or a Lost Cause dinner theater had nothing to do with white supremacy. That she wasn't intentionally selling white American fantasies of Appalachia and the Old South.
Look, I grew up in East TN, & when my 8th grade teacher spouted the Lost Cause to my social studies class, I knew what he was doing, even if I didn't know how to explain it. White people know. They know in their gut. She and her team knew, even if she won't or can’t admit it.
I’m glad that Dolly stated that Black Lives Matter. And I also want her and us to take principled stands and do more to support policies and organizations that make the slogan a reality.
