CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Dolly Parton’s “Dollitics” and the Possibilities of Uniting

Dolly Parton performs with Ladysmith Black Mambazo. (Screen capture from video posted to YouTube.)

The death of Dolly Parton made front pages around the world. “Country music star’s songs spoke to millions” was the New York Times headline. The story of the poor girl from Appalachia reaching fame, stardom and riches was the archetypical American Dream come true. “We like Dolly Parton because we like that story about who we are,” sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom wrote. But what really piqued my curiosity was the Times line: “She was, quintessentially, a uniter of people.”

Is it possible to be a “uniter of people” today? Parton seemed to have all poles of U.S. politics on her side. From the left, the Democratic Socialist mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani called her an “irreplaceable champion of the working class.” On the right, the Republican Party of Tennessee, her home state, declared her a “treasure,” while Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, said “God Bless Dolly.” After her death, President Trump called her “one of the greatest Country singers,” and said, “There has never been anyone like her, and never will.” Trump ordered U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff nationwide through September 1, 2026, in her honor—a notably rare tribute for an entertainer.

Parsing her politics is not difficult. “My daddy was a Republican, my mama was a Democrat, and I’m a hypocrite!” she once joked in a television interview. “Of course, I have my opinion about everybody and everything,” she once told an interviewer, “but I learned a long time ago, keep your damn mouth shut if you want to stay in show business.”

One of her nephews, Bryan Seaver, who announced her death on........

© CounterPunch