Dolly Parton, John Lennon and Muhammad Ali: A History of Medals Presented and Medals Turned Down!

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By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

As I sit in my Kailyard I wonder often about the future.

Every country has a form of reward for its citizenry.

The United Kingdom has a long-established Honors System which has seen quite a few nominated people either refusing to accept or handing their rewards back. Actor Michael Sheen was most recently called out for having such an honor and then delivering a lecture which was a critique of what was wrong, and oh so wrong, with the British state’s involvement in his home country of Wales. He gave his honor back as it was incompatible with the criticism he was going to make.

The Beatles’ John Lennon apparently did the same whilst famously Muhammad Ali allegedly threw his Gold Medal in a river in disgust.

We all have our rebels and the problems that come with the honors system in our countries; people argue over who should or who should not get them, constantly.

In the UK it is made even more problematic as the lesser honors refer to them being a part of the British Empire. We have the Order of the British Empire, Member of the British Empire, Commander of the British Empire and so on… It does not leave a honey sweet taste on your lips…

So, as we hear, over here, of one Dolly Parton having turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom, not once but twice from former President, Donald J. Trump, we were interested in why.
Lennon sent his back in protest at the Biafran War and the Vietnam conflict whilst Ali threw his in the Ohio River after being refused entry to a whites only restaurant.

For Parton the reasons were a little more practical.

She turned hers down twice because her husband was ill the first time and then felt unable to travel the second time due to COVID-19.

Really?

As an iconic figure who has done so much for the literacy of the underprivileged, it is easy to see why she would be eligible and given that she is unsure if she would accept the medal a third time from Joe Biden, she is worried it might be politicized, it is hard to see why she should not have that honor tagged onto her burgeoning list of fantastic achievements.
We all need an honors system.

The problem with both the one in the US and the one in the UK is that it appears to be open to abuse. In the UK ordinary people can be nominated by their friends and family and an application may be submitted to request that consideration is given to a wonderful community champion.

The work that they do is often the only reward they crave and when they get the recognition from the Queen it is always touching to see them stand with it outside the Palace or Edinburgh with a beaming smile and a thanks to those who felt they were worthy.

If there is a perfect qualification for it, then it is the level of humility they demonstrate when, shocked and surprised they have to admit they have been awarded it. If there was a bar to be set for the giving of any award that should be it. And so, Dolly Parton, queen of country and steady positive influence for women everywhere and country music the world over, has been quoted in the UK as saying, that she does not feel like she deserves the award. “But it’s a nice compliment for people to think I might deserve it,” she added.

She is therefore, in my books, exactly the right person to get it…

A view from the new Kailyard or, how you look over there, from over here…

(kailyard n. a genre of sentimental Scottish literature turned into effective invective comment from one Donald worth reading…)

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