--- title: Paul Ryan's Overwhelmingly White Selfie Says It All description: The Speaker of the House posted a striking Instagram image on Sunday canonical: https://time.com/4410815/paul-ryan-intern-selfie/ author: IDEAS Desk article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-18T16:50:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:19:46.679Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Paul Ryan's Overwhelmingly White Selfie Says a Lot og:description: The Instagram is about as diverse as the Senate og:url: https://time.com/4410815/paul-ryan-intern-selfie/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f5095c0cce26ef4/69889c5ca988ca66b56b8a94/gettyimages-496595468.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Fox Business And The Wall Street Journal Host Republican Primary Debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Paul Ryan's Overwhelmingly White Selfie Says a Lot twitter:description: The Instagram is about as diverse as the Senate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f5095c0cce26ef4/69889c5ca988ca66b56b8a94/gettyimages-496595468.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Paul Ryan's Overwhelmingly White Selfie Says a Lot About America > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [IDEAS Desk](https://time.com/author/ideas-desk/) ## IDEAS Desk Jul 18, 2016 4:50 PM UTC  U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan taking a similarly diverse selfie during a presidential candidate debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Nov. 10, 2015. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan taking a similarly diverse selfie during a presidential candidate debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Nov. 10, 2015. Bloomberg/Getty Images by [IDEAS Desk](https://time.com/author/ideas-desk/) ## IDEAS Desk Jul 18, 2016 4:50 PM UTC After many weeks in which [cameras have helped expose](http://time.com/4398580/diamond-reynolds-video/) racial disparity in the U.S., on July 17, Speaker of the House of Paul Ryan posted a revelatory photo to Instagram. The image, captioned “I think this sets a record for the most number of #CapitolHill interns in a single selfie. #SpeakerSelfie,” featured an overwhelmingly white group of young people—opportunity and privilege in 1080 square pixels. The photograph instantly [sparked debate and mockery](http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a61486/capitol-hill-white-interns-photo/): > [](https://twitter.com/Luvvie/status/754740713909317632) > [](https://twitter.com/MatthewACherry/status/754714108943937536) > [](https://twitter.com/elongreen/status/754743714980003840) [The post itself](https://www.instagram.com/p/BH7pXnKj5t%5F/?taken-by=speakerryan) has received over 5,500 comments. Let’s keep in mind that the current Senate is 6% nonwhite. The House of Representatives is 80% white. The overall American population is just above 60% white. Yet somehow, this Congress is lauded for being the [most diverse ever](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/01/12/114th-congress-is-most-diverse-ever/). Ryan himself was a Congressional intern in 1991 for former Senator Bob Kasten, of Ryan’s native Wisconsin, who in April [joined](http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/374368271.html) presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s foreign policy team. After Ryan graduated college the next year, he joined Sen. Kasten’s staff. 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