In it together. Meghan Markle and Alexis Ohanian described their “shared experiences” as parents of mixed-race children.
“As a husband you just get outraged, and then especially now in the role as a father, I just can’t help but want to create a world that is just fair to my daughter,” the Reddit cofounder, 37, said during the Tuesday, October 20, Time 100 “Engineering a Better World” speaking series of his wife, Serena Williams, and their 3-year-old daughter, Olympia. “And I know that that’s lofty, but it’s a thing worth striving toward.”
The New York native opened up about his efforts to diversify the tech industry and create a safer social media space, which led to his resignation from Reddit’s board in June. The entrepreneur requested that his position be filled by a Black candidate.
“Given that I am still getting hate mail about it, I knew I made the right choice,” Ohanian told Markle, 39. “Because sadly, we’re at a place in this country where there is still a lot of work to be done. I thought about … the role that all social media companies play in our society and the world that it’s shaping for everyone including people like my daughter, like my wife. I knew that I had a responsibility to be able to answer her when she asked me in 10 years — when she’s a snarky teenager — what I did to help be a part of making things better for her.”
The Suits alum, who shares son Archie, 17 months, with Prince Harry, replied, “I know we have shared experiences in being in interracial marriages and raising small children who are of mixed race and how that plays into that.”
Markle has a close bond with Ohanian’s wife, also 39. The professional tennis player attended her and Harry’s May 2018 wedding and threw her a baby shower the following year.
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles native said parenthood has made her “more courageous” and “concerned” for the next generation’s future.
“The things you’re able to tolerate on your own are not the same that you are going to put your child in a position of vulnerability for,” the former actress explained during Fortune’s “Most Powerful Next Gen Summit” on October 13. “You go every single day: ‘How can I make this world better for Archie?’ That is a shared belief for my husband and I.”
She and the former military pilot, 36, welcomed their baby boy in May 2019. Eight months later, the couple announced their decision to step back as senior members of the royal family. They temporarily moved to Canada and now reside in Montecito, California.
