If you live in Tennessee, or if you visit the state, you may notice statues of Confederate soldiers. Alex Parsons and 5600+ other people want that to change.

On June 11, Parsons started a petition on change.org recommending that all statues of Confederate soldiers be replaced with statues of Dolly Parton, and as of June 15, the petition already has more than 5600 supporters.

Parsons has very good reasons for wanting to get rid of the statues that memorialize Confederate soldiers. He wrote the following in an update to the petition on June 14th:

“Memorials to the Confederacy were intended, in part, to obscure the terrorism required to overthrow Reconstruction, and to intimidate African Americans politically and isolate them from the mainstream of public life.”

Parsons acknowledges that a state filled with statues of Dolly Parton might sound a little silly, but he has his reasons, and it’s not about her status as a country music legend. 

“From the Dollywood foundation that has provided books and scholarships to millions of American children, to the millions of dollars she has donated to dozens of organizations such as the Red Cross and COVID-19 research centers, Dolly Parton has given more to this country and this state than those confederate officers could ever have hoped to take away.

Let’s replace the statues of men who sought to tear this country apart with a monument to the woman who has worked her entire life to bring us closer together.”

Parsons is open to statues of other deserving groups or individuals as long as it means the Confederate soldier memorials are removed.

“The tyranny memorialized in those statues can no longer be allowed to stand, be it removed or replaced by someone worthy of praise, such as Dolly Parton or other deserving groups and individuals.”

You can get more information about the petition and even sign it here.