Reddit co-founder Ohanian resigns from board, wants a black candidate to take over

[rooster59]

Reddit co-founder Ohanian resigns from board, wants a black candidate to take over

 

FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 8, 2019 Alexis Ohanian in attendance for the fourth round match between Serena Williams of the U.S. and Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro REUTERS/Tony O'Brien - RC1EBFF660D0

 

(Reuters) - Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian on Friday resigned from the social network firm's board and sought to be replaced by a black candidate.

 

Following Ohanian's post on Reddit, the company's Chief Executive Steve Huffman said the company would "honor" his request and is working to strengthen its content policy to combat racist speech on its platform.

 

Ohanian's decision to step down comes at a time when the United States is witnessing widespread protests against racism and police brutality after an unarmed African American, George Floyd, died at the hands of the police.

 

His death has reignited debates over diversity in America's corporate boardrooms and content moderation practices on social media.

 

Huffman wrote in a post

 

"This current policy lists only what you cannot do, articulates none of the values behind the rules, and does not explicitly take a stance on hate or racism."

 

Huffman also said Reddit should have moved sooner to restrict access to r/The_Donald, a major forum for supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump that Reddit 'quarantined' last year citing threats of violence against police and public officials.

 

Earlier in the week, former CEO Ellen Pao criticized Reddit when Huffman wrote a letter to employees in response to the protests. She tweeted

 

Several Republican lawmakers wrote to Huffman last week criticizing what they called his censorship of the r/The_Donald.

 

Internet entrepreneur Ohanian, who is married to American tennis player Serena Williams, also pledged $1 million to Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights Camp, a campaign for legal awareness among youth.

 

(Reporting by Neha Malara, Munsif Vengattil and Ayanti Bera in Bengaluru and Elizabeth Culliford in San Francisco; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Anirban Sen and Amy Caren Daniel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-06-06

 

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[TopDeadSenter]

5 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

sought to be replaced by a black candidate.

More racism. So excluding ethnic Asian or Caucasians or Latinos is now OK is it? I am appalled by what is effectively black supremacy that is going on, recently more than ever. And somebody please tell me that only considering a black person for a job is illegal discrimination against other races? 

[izod10]

Exactly the problem in South Africa.  Absolute top management has to be black by law,middle and lower,mixed race,usually Indians.......the country is in one hell of a mess,cannot manage,useless

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

More racism. So excluding ethnic Asian or Caucasians or Latinos is now OK is it? I am appalled by what is effectively black supremacy that is going on, recently more than ever. And somebody please tell me that only considering a black person for a job is illegal discrimination against other races? 

Not surprised by your post.

[scorecard]

12 minutes ago, izod10 said:

Exactly the problem in South Africa.  Absolute top management has to be black by law,middle and lower,mixed race,usually Indians.......the country is in one hell of a mess,cannot manage,useless

Is anybody suggesting anything like that in the US or other countries? NO.

[izod10]

4 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Is anybody suggesting anything like that in the US or other countries? NO.

Read the opening post,just that.   Biden and his lefty flock would endorse this action,South Africa mark 2 coming up

[BobBKK]

Pathetic identity politics and racism. Choose the best person regardless of race, gender or creed. Whatever happened to the fight for EQUALITY?

[Sundown]

Reddit is a congregation of miserable people stuck at the age of elementary school. Who cares!?

[Bender Rodriguez]

idiot... so a better candidate, whatever color, should give up his/her place for the darker meat ?

 

bit like in thailand, it is not WHAT your know, but who you know

 

[Bluespunk]

“I am obligated to call you out: You should have shut down the_donald instead of amplifying it and its hate, racism, and violence. So much of what is happening now lies at your feet. You don't get to say BLM when reddit nurtures and monetizes white supremacy and hate all day long https://t.co/VN5XCiYp5g

— Ellen K. Pao (@ekp) June 2, 2020“

Boom, 

 

shutting down the hate sites would be a much more positive step forward. 

[TopDeadSenter]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

Is anybody suggesting anything like that in the US or other countries? NO.

Ask and ye shall receive. Here is 2 from the UK showing similar racism against Caucasians and East Asians.

 

BBC bans white people from job

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/670266/BBC-advert-white-people-ethnic-equality-staff-job-internship

 

So even though London is minority white, they are still discriminated against. Remember this stated as help for minorities, which was dumped when white Brits were outnumbered in their own capital city.

 

A police force has been found guilty of discrimination after it refused to give a potential recruit a job because he was a white heterosexual man. 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/22/police-force-guilty-discrimination-rejecting-white-heterosexual/

[Chomper Higgot]

2 hours ago, BobBKK said:

Pathetic identity politics and racism. Choose the best person regardless of race, gender or creed. Whatever happened to the fight for EQUALITY?

If there was any semblance of equality the boardrooms of US corporations would be filled with an even mix of people who’s race and gender mirrors that of the population at large.

 

They are not, where’s your outrage?

[BobBKK]

6 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

If there was any semblance of equality the boardrooms of US corporations would be filled with an even mix of people who’s race and gender mirrors that of the population at large.

 

They are not, where’s your outrage?

They should not be - ergo no outrage. People selected by MERIT not skin colour, gender or any other bias. Why should boardrooms be filled with a mix?  if that were the case why not rappers? NFL?  Soccer? is Opera racist because there are more Italians?  its absurd.

[TopDeadSenter]

10 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

If there was any semblance of equality the boardrooms of US corporations would be filled with an even mix of people who’s race and gender mirrors that of the population at large.

 

They are not, where’s your outrage?

Should basketball teams be forced to have 50% short white players that have no ball skills and no interest in basketball? In the name of inclusivity? Or should the team captains be able to chose whoever they think is best? 

 Apply your answer to the corporate world.

[Genmai]

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

shutting down the hate sites would be a much more positive step forward.

Disagreeing with something doesn't make it hate speech.

[Denim]

16 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

A police force has been found guilty of discrimination after it refused to give a potential recruit a job because he was a white heterosexual man.

 

Ah , they obviously wanted somebody with a predilection for and experience of handling truncheons.

[DoctorG]

Reddit is now just another SJW circle j .

[Dap]

5 hours ago, BobBKK said:

Pathetic identity politics and racism. Choose the best person regardless of race, gender or creed. Whatever happened to the fight for EQUALITY?

"Whatever happened to the fight for EQUALITY?"

You might want to ask the women (any color) of the world about that one while you're at it.

[CorpusChristie]

"And just this morning, Alexis Ohanian (u/kn0thing), my Reddit cofounder, announced that he is resigning from our board and that he wishes for his seat to be filled with a Black candidate,"

 

   What difference does it make what color he is ?

[Bluespunk]

2 hours ago, Genmai said:

Disagreeing with something doesn't make it hate speech.

I agree, it's the hate contained within hate speech sites  that make them hate filled.

Edited June 6, 2020 by Bluespunk

[baansgr]

8 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

More racism. So excluding ethnic Asian or Caucasians or Latinos is now OK is it? I am appalled by what is effectively black supremacy that is going on, recently more than ever. And somebody please tell me that only considering a black person for a job is illegal discrimination against other races? 

No it's not...it's called positive discrimination and has been around for 30 years already...best man...ooops, or lady for the job and all that goes out the window in order to meet their targets. Back in the mid nineties, a black girl had a fight at an office and was being transferred to ours as they dare not sack her...I never forget my bosses glee...he said not only is she a woman but she's black so great for my targets...

[CorpusChristie]

7 minutes ago, baansgr said:

No it's not...it's called positive discrimination and has been around for 30 years already...best man...ooops, or lady for the job and all that goes out the window in order to meet their targets. Back in the mid nineties, a black girl had a fight at an office and was being transferred to ours as they dare not sack her...I never forget my bosses glee...he said not only is she a woman but she's black so great for my targets...

I do hope that you boss wasn't an Archer 

[khunken]

So we have here off topic posts about 'black racism' in South Africa (infinitesimal compared to Apartheid), absolutely stupid analogy about basketball and not one of the deflection-attempting racists willing to admit that the US does have a problem.

 

I applaud Ohanian as he has recognised that Reddit's board is yet another white-man's exclusive club. With a nasty racist (among other -ists) as the current president it is incumbent on decent people to take a stand & now is as good a time as any.

[Upstate]

6 hours ago, khunken said:

So we have here off topic posts about 'black racism' in South Africa (infinitesimal compared to Apartheid), absolutely stupid analogy about basketball and not one of the deflection-attempting racists willing to admit that the US does have a problem.

 

I applaud Ohanian as he has recognised that Reddit's board is yet another white-man's exclusive club. With a nasty racist (among other -ists) as the current president it is incumbent on decent people to take a stand & now is as good a time as any.

The fact that he is married to Serena Williams is probably just a mere coincedence.

[Upstate]

Harry and meghan mark 2.

[daoyai]

9 hours ago, Dap said:

"Whatever happened to the fight for EQUALITY?"

You might want to ask the women (any color) of the world about that one while you're at it.

The world is a big place, but in the "west" gender equality is guaranteed by very strict laws so what is your point ?   As is racial equality.

Edited June 6, 2020 by daoyai

[EVENKEEL]

 

 

[JCauto]

Oooh, someone is giving the under-represented people on the Board of a corporation a seat! I believe I'm getting the vapors, mah freedom, mah opportunity, mah rights have been crushed by this unjust discrimination against the otherwise dominant White Males who oversee corporate America and who dominate corporate boards well beyond their population!

 

Given that the corporate boards continuously over-represent these White males, we should come to one of two conclusions:

1. White males are somehow superior to other candidates and their inherent characteristics make it such that they succeed at a rate that is so far statistically beyond their actual numbers that this proves the inherent superiority.

2. The underlying assumptions and conditions set in place by the White majority throughout the early years of the development of the capitalist economy have severely disadvantaged those who are visible minorities and women such that they haven't managed to come even close to their likely representation on corporate boards had racial or gender issues not been taken into consideration subconsciously or consciously.

I'm going with number 2. It's quite clear there are many of you who believe in the first conclusion. I find that quite sad.

[JCauto]

On 6/6/2020 at 11:13 AM, TopDeadSenter said:

Should basketball teams be forced to have 50% short white players that have no ball skills and no interest in basketball? In the name of inclusivity? Or should the team captains be able to chose whoever they think is best? 

 Apply your answer to the corporate world.

This is an inaccurate comparison. You should have said "should basketball teams be forced to have 50% white players" - Ohanian is not suggesting that they go out on the street and hire the first homeless black person they identify. He's saying that, among those qualified and experienced to be corporate board members, they should select a Black person because, for whatever reason, the makeup of the Board does not reflect the diversity that it should. So the issue is not having short White players who don't have any basketball skills, it's selecting the tall White player at the power forward position over the tall Black player at the power forward position from a list of experienced and qualified tall power forwards.

 

So is the corollary true then?

Do you believe that there is an inherent racial advantage that these White men have that makes them such superior choices for the corporate board that they have managed to come to dominate pretty much ALL corporate boards across America? Or do you think that there are other factors at play that make it an un-level playing field that gives them an advantage and that advantage is reflected in the situation?

Say what you will, the basketball team has a very level and transparent basis for selection and for assessment of the candidacy of the potential players - what they do on the court is indisputable evidence, and there is no structural basis to disadvantage anyone regardless of their racial characteristics. The coach, even if racist, has a strong incentive to win because if he loses, his job and lifestyle is threatened - he therefore has a reason to NOT promote a player based on skin color because it will affect him negatively.

[Dap]

14 hours ago, daoyai said:

The world is a big place, but in the "west" gender equality is guaranteed by very strict laws so what is your point ?   As is racial equality.

LOL! "Guaranteed and Racial Equality"  The words (laws) and the actual realities are two entirely different concepts where I come from in the West.