Flanagan Quits Race to Back Sister Guthrie

Flanagan Quits Race to Back Sister Guthrie

Religion, Congress, Memphis, Guthrie, Mary Anne

In this newspaper article, the main topic is how a Democratic candidate and the president of a plywood paneling firm, Mark Flanagan, decided to stop competing for the Eighth District Congressional race so he could support Sister Mary Anne Guthrie—another Democrat in the race. He made his decision based off the fact he and Sister Mary Anne stood for the same things. At a news conference, Flanagan spoke about his goal—to achieve a more diverse Memphis. He is quoted saying, “We can’t tolerate white racism and neither can we tolerate black racism.” There was a rumor going around that Harold Ford, the only black candidate, was manipulating black racism, and Flanagan couldn’t support him as a Democratic candidate.

Sister Mary Anne felt Flanagan’s endorsement was just the thing to unify the Democratic Party. Despite the fact of not having any black endorsement, Sister Mary Anne said she still hoped to win the majority of black votes. She also went on to say she was currently not able to receive any endorsement because the Ford family was so prominent and pressured blacks for their votes. There was no way she could support Ford if he were the Democratic nominee, simply for the fact that he could not unify the Democratic Party as a whole to beat the Republicans in November.

Sister Mary Anne is still in the race, along with Lee Whitman, Representative Harold Ford, and Charles Burch, and Joan Best.

MSS 475, Box 370B, Folder 3

University of Memphis Libraries

July 29, 1974

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