# Is Boehner the first black Speaker of the House? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 1, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633 "2012-12-01T00:44:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/1 "2012-12-01T00:44:31Z")
This photo: [http://www.ksat.com/image/view/-/156754/medRes/2/-/maxh/360/maxw/640/-/11ypwpiz/-/Obama-and-Boehner-jpg.jpg](http://www.ksat.com/image/view/-/156754/medRes/2/-/maxh/360/maxw/640/-/11ypwpiz/-/Obama-and-Boehner-jpg.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/2 "2012-12-01T00:46:47Z")
Is this a joke about his tan? otherwise I don’t get it… If it is - I think there are other pics much worse - though they make him look more orange. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/3 "2012-12-01T01:19:52Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > Is this a joke about his tan? otherwise I don’t get it… > > If it is - I think there are other pics much worse - though they make him look more orange. I don’t get what you are not getting. The complexions are almost exactly the same. Every racist should be forced to see the picture and then be quizzed about skin color and what it has to do with qualification. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/4 "2012-12-01T01:22:07Z")
I thought he was an Oompa Loompa… Or had rusted from all the tears (according to Obama). ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/5 "2012-12-01T01:29:25Z")
Really? They didn’t look the same to me, but maybe my brain is using my prior knowledge of what they look like. I’ve never been good with color - so I admit I could be wrong here. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/6 "2012-12-01T02:01:17Z")
URL leads to a blank screen and the title “Gone.” Somebody took it down? Feh. Matters not a whit: ask Boehner. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/7 "2012-12-01T04:02:56Z")
I can’t view the photo either. Regardless, the answer is no. ---
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/8 "2012-12-01T04:17:00Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Or had rusted from all the tears (according to Obama). Cite please. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/9 "2012-12-01T04:30:19Z")
Are there professional, semi-professional Right Wing Bronzers out there that all the prominent, pale ass Republicans use to look like street cones? ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/10 "2012-12-01T05:18:20Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > URL leads to a blank screen and the title “Gone.” Somebody took it down? When I tested it, it worked. Try this: [http://www.ksat.com/image/view/-/156754/medRes/2/-/maxh/360/maxw/640/-/11ypwpiz/-/Obama-and-Boehner-jpg.jpg](http://www.ksat.com/image/view/-/156754/medRes/2/-/maxh/360/maxw/640/-/11ypwpiz/-/Obama-and-Boehner-jpg.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/11 "2012-12-01T14:08:47Z")
No. He’s Naranjito-American. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/12 "2012-12-01T16:22:18Z")
If Romney won we’d have had our first [Hispanic](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/mitt-romney-dyed-face-brown-fake-tan-univision_n_1900707.html) president. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/13 "2012-12-01T17:42:37Z")
> [@IceQube](#): > > Cite please. At the [Gridiron](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2011/03/obama_gets_laughs_at_first_gri.html) Club annual dinner in DC last year. _Romney jokes were big, but not as plentiful as John Boehner jokes. The president said he used to think the House speaker was tan, but after seeing him tear up so much, he realized: “That’s not a tan – that’s rust!”_ ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/14 "2012-12-01T18:11:54Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Every racist should be forced to see the picture and then be quizzed about skin color and what it has to do with qualification. Yeah, that’ll teach 'em!! ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/15 "2012-12-02T04:03:54Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yeah, that’ll teach 'em!! They’re quick studies, those racists. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/16 "2012-12-02T19:21:14Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I can’t view the photo either. Regardless, the answer is no. But if we were applying “black” to his heart rather than skin tone… Actually, the answer would still be “no,” since he’d hardly be “first.” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-boehner-the-first-black-speaker-of-the-house/642633/17 "2012-12-02T23:38:23Z")
Well, if Bill Clinton can be the first black President… (Or was that Woodrow Wilson? No, he was the first left-handed albino lesbian midget dwarf President. Which means FDR was the first bionic President, and Theodore Roosevelt was the first Velociraptor-American President.)