Reddit founder resigns as member of company board, will use position to boost black community

by Marty Johnson - 06/05/20 3:01 PM ET

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian Sr. has stepped away from the company’s board, saying that he wants to focus his attention on stopping “racial hate.”

“I co-founded Reddit 15 years ago to help people find community and a sense of belonging. It is long overdue to do the right thing. I’m doing this for me, for my family, and for my country,” Ohanian said on his personal website.

He added, “I’m writing this as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: ‘What did you do?’”

Ohanian is married to tennis superstar Serena Williams and the couple have a two-year-old daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.

Ohanian said he has urged the Reddit board to fill his position with a “black candidate,” and that he will “use future gains on my Reddit stock to serve the black community, chiefly to curb racial hate.”

“I’m starting with a pledge of $1M to Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp,” Ohanian added.

Nationwide protests — sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week — have not only demanded justice for Floyd, but for the systemic racism and inequality in the country to be addressed and stomped out.

Floyd was killed last Monday when former city police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes, continuing to do so until Floyd was unconscious. Bystander video shows Floyd saying he couldn’t breathe multiple times as Chauvin continued to hold him to the street.

Chauvin and the other three officers at the scene were quickly fired by the department. Chauvin is currently charged with second-degree murder, while the three other officers are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.