Reddit Co-Founder Resigns From Board So Black Person Can Take His Place

The co-founder of Reddit Alexis Ohanian has announced he is resigning from the board so that a black person can take his place.

The 37-year-old said he helped set up the website 15 years ago as a place where people could find 'community and a sense of belonging' and said his resignation was 'for me, for my family, and for my country'.

In a video posted on social media, the entrepreneur - who has a two-year-old daughter with wife Serena Williams - said he would also be pledging $1m (£790,000) to Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights campaign.

He said: "It is long overdue to do the right thing. I'm doing this for me, for my family, and for my country.

"I'm saying this as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: 'What did you do?'

"So I have resigned as a member of the Reddit board, I have urged them to fill my seat with a black candidate, and I will use future gains on my Reddit stock to serve the black community, chiefly to curb racial hate, and I'm starting with a pledge of $1m to Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights campaign.

"I believe resignation can actually be an act of leadership from people in power right now. To everyone fighting to fix our broken nation: do not stop."

The announcement comes after Reddit's former CEO Ellen Pao slammed the company earlier this week.

In response to a letter posted by current CEO Steve Huffman condemning racism, Pao said: "You don't get to say BLM when Reddit nurtures and monetises white supremacy and hate all day long."

Black Lives Matter protests have been taking place across the globe since 46-year-old black man George Floyd died in police custody in Minnesota on 25 May.

Today (Friday), the UK government advised people not to take part in demonstrations of more than six people in line with social distancing measures.

Topics: Black Lives Matter, US News, Reddit

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey