On Sunday, Paul Ryan, the current Speaker for the House of Representatives, posted a selfie on Instagram featuring a huge group of Capitol Hill interns. Ryan seemed impressed with the 70+ people he was able to fit in the photo, but others saw something else that stuck out more: the smiling faces of the GOP interns are almost exclusively white.
Ryan has been criticized over the last few days for the lack of diversity among the interns. The Internet, as usual, took to commenting on his Instagram and posting on Twitter to express their disdain. But the Democratic Capitol Hill interns had the biggest clapback of all. It started with US Representative E.B. Johnson posting some pictures, including this selfie, on Twitter:
My intern Audra Jackson led Democratic Interns in their own selfie 2day showing #DemInternDiversity #DemInternSelfie pic.twitter.com/83UcIOKS5s
— Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (@RepEBJ) July 19, 2016
Notice the difference? While Ryan’s selfie made finding a person of color into a game of “Where’s Waldo?,” the Democratic interns proudly display a huge variety of racial and ethnic uniqueness. This particular selfie, taken by intern Audra Jackson while working for Texas Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, is earning praise. It has also inspired many other interns to showcase the diversity that they and their bosses represent in their parties.
That’s more like it. Take notes, GOP. Representation matters, especially when it comes to representing a diverse nation such as the United States.
[H/T: Cosmopolitan]
