# What type of white is Romney? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 8, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033 "2012-10-08T00:14:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/1 "2012-10-08T00:14:13Z")
Is he Irish? Turkish? Armenian? Danish? What? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/2 "2012-10-08T00:31:40Z")
A quick wiki search indicates that he is of mostly English descent. So, he’s a WASM. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/3 "2012-10-08T00:36:11Z")
> **[Obama, Romney Family Trees Hold Slaves, British Country Folk](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/obama-romney-family-trees-hold-slaves-british-countryfolk/story?id=16889505)** > > The United States' first African-American president is likely a descendent of the first documented enslaved African in colonial America, researchers at Ancestry.com announced Monday. > [@](#): > > Obama’s Republican rival Mitt Romney, on the other hand, can trace the majority of his family tree to one country: England. His great-great grandfather, Miles Romney, was a carpenter from Preston, England, where he and his wife, Elizabeth, were converted by Mormon missionaries and then came to the United States in the early 1800s. > > Mitt Romney’s wife, Ann, can also trace her family tree back to the United Kingdom. Her grandfather was a coalminer from Wales. Mormons are typically Northwest European in ancestry, a kind of re-assmblage of various strands of Teutonic migration. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/4 "2012-10-08T01:14:12Z")
Does the Romney family darken their skin when reaching out to Hispanics? Mitt at the conference ten days ago and his son in the Spanish language ad both seemed rather dark skinned. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/5 "2012-10-08T01:20:15Z")
“Off” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/6 "2012-10-08T01:22:29Z")
Mitt Romney, the other dark/white meat. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/7 "2012-10-08T01:54:08Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Does the Romney family darken their skin when reaching out to Hispanics? > > Mitt at the conference ten days ago and his son in the Spanish language ad both seemed rather dark skinned. I doubt it. If you have actual evidence that they do, you should present it. We went over this in a thread not long ago, and I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Do a search and you’ll find the thread about Romney’s sons. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/8 "2012-10-08T02:31:47Z")
The kind that naps in tanning beds. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/9 "2012-10-08T03:44:35Z")
Considering that he wouldn’t look out of place in a Sears catalog or an episode of Ozzie and Harriet, I’ve got to go with “Really White”. That’ll be a category for minority scholarships if Mitt’s elected. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/10 "2012-10-08T04:21:13Z")
I’ll take “As White As It Gets” for five hundred, Alex! ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/11 "2012-10-08T04:23:03Z")
I’m pretty sure he’s American. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/12 "2012-10-08T05:48:20Z")
If I have to choose an American White, I’ll go with Wonder Bread. He has the same perfect consistent flesh tone, the perfect square shape, and the perfect utterly bland flavor of… well, nothing really. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/13 "2012-10-08T15:20:42Z")
pink-assed (like me. It’s cool.) ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/14 "2012-10-08T15:22:41Z")
Ecru ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/15 "2012-10-08T15:54:54Z")
The answer seems to be mostly [British](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/obama-romney-family-trees-hold-slaves-british-countryfolk/story?id=16889505#.UHL26lEn36Q) with a few other odds and ends tossed in. Check out the whole article as it’s got some really interesting stuff on Obama, who’s family has actually been in the US since the 1600’s…though under less favorable circumstances of course. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/16 "2012-10-08T15:55:16Z")
After his wife’s recent comments concerning his mental well-being, I’ll go with “eggshell”. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/17 "2012-10-08T16:08:35Z")
From [one of the better genealogical websites](http://www.wargs.com/political/romney.html): > [@](#): > > The ethnic/national ancestry of Gov. Romney, as far as is currently known, can be shown as follows: > > ``` > 40.625 % English > 28.125 % North American Colonial > 18.75 % Scottish > 12.5 % German > > ``` > > Most (certainly not all) of the “North American Colonial” in Gov. Romney’s ancestry is originally derived from England. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/18 "2012-10-08T18:23:51Z")
I thought that the LDS Church was supposed to maintain the most extensive geological site; especially when it came to Mormons. No cite, but that is what I’ve always heard. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/19 "2012-10-08T18:27:34Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > I thought that the LDS Church was supposed to maintain the most extensive geological site; especially when it came to Mormons. … That would be helpful in determining what kind of mineral Romney is. Perhaps chalk? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033/20 "2012-10-08T18:32:51Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > I thought that the LDS Church was supposed to maintain the most extensive geological site; especially when it came to Mormons. No cite, but that is what I’ve always heard. The Church keeps some of the most extensive genealogical records in the world. Apparently Mormon theology allows post-death baptism of ancestors, but you have to have those ancestors names, so they’ve put a lot of effort into tracing back family trees. Sort of a silly reason from a secular perspective, but the end result is nice, as they provide a pretty good resource for genealogical resources even for people outside the Church. I’m actually more surprised at how far back genealogists claim to be able to trace back Obama and his wife’s slave ancestors. Presumably most slaves were illiterate and not generating their own birth-records, and I wouldn’t think there would be much incentive for owners to care which slave came who newborn slaves parents were. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-white-is-romney/637033.md?page=2)