Serena Williams‘ husband Alexis Ohanian gave a history lesson to a Twitter user who likened him to a Klansmen.
“When you forget who you are, you too forget who they are,” a meme of Ohanian picking up Williams next to a Ku Klux Klan member holding a Black woman said. It was uploaded by Twitter user Lacy McMullen Jr. Thursday, July 26.
Ohanian, who co-founded the social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website Reddit, hit back by linking to a Wikipedia entry about the Armenian Genocide, referring to the heritage of his father, Chris Ohanian. He is an Armenian-American whose grandparents fled to the United States following the Armenian Genocide.
“Free history lesson,” Ohanian tweeted.
The reply found several detractors.
“Cute that no one mentions how Armenians initiated the whole conflict by Maas slaughtering Kurds. Might explain why 90% of the world doesn’t recognize the genocide.”
“Damn so no one in the replies mentioned that racism runs rampant on Reddit 😂😂😂.”
And one user hit back with another point of view and called Ohanian out for his website’s role in perpetuating racism against Black people.
“Since 1494, Black people have been going to hell on this world. Not sure how the Armenian war will change that but I know, Reddit hates Blacks like it’s nothing over there and I haven’t seen you speak out v. it or denounce any form of white supremacy linked to the site,” user Marcus Graham said. “You don’t just have white access benefits, you have all of the white benefits that come with partaking in white supremacy and just doing your part. Your own wife who is the most famous Blk female athlete couldn’t get that if she wanted it. That doesn’t bother you? It bothers me.
“Would you like a free history session. Not just reference links. But actual sessions?” he added. “There is nothing outside of being Black that can prepare you for what Serena goes through. Nothing. No one sees you as Armenian in interviews, your white. Police, white, the valley, white.”
“Reddit is the largest hate site in the world next to 4chan and formerly Stormfront. This is your legacy,” Graham said in another tweet. “Sleeping with a Black woman will never change that. Eating biscuits with Princes will never change that. This is your legacy. Serena is just a victim of hate like most of us.”
