Hillbilly
In her interview with Southern Living, Parton was asked whether she thinks the term “hillbilly” is an insult or compliment? As she’s been called one many times in her career. “Well, it’s a compliment to me. I mean we were really Hill. Billies. To me that’s not an insult. We were just mountain people. We were really redneck, roughneck, hillbilly people. And I’m proud of it.” Glad to see that Dolly has remained so humble in her lifetime, it’s refreshing.
Hillbilly
White Trash
On the other hand, some people have referred to her as “White trash!” Her response? “I am. People always say ‘Aren’t you insulted when people call you white trash?’ I say, ‘Well it depends on who’s calling me white trash and how they mean it.’ But we really were to some degree. Because when you’re that poor and you’re not educated, you fall in those categories. But I’m proud of my hillbilly, white trash background. To me that keeps you humble; that keeps you good. And it doesn’t matter how hard you try to outrun it—if that’s who you are, that’s who you are. It’ll show up once in a while.”
White-Trash