I understand it's a terrible position to be put in.
It's just the reddit board. If it's so awesome, can you name the other people who are on it, as of today?
Guaranteed that 95% of the people reading this did not know that this august institution also includes, and would not have known were it not for this comment:
Sam Altman (famous, not surprising) Robert Sauerberg (probably less famous than Seibel before being named to this) Porter Gale (ditto)
I'm sure these are good people, doing important work. But there's 4 of them in all, Seibel's just one, and the net effect may be less consequential than people here imagine.
For most people it will be "I'm on the board of reddit." "Oh, cool."
For people who think it was because of skin color, they may think less of him or of reddit, but presumably he made that choice going in and is okay with the costs and benefits. I have a rare (and not at all serious) medical condition. If reddit said they were selecting board members only with this condition I would happily apply and take the position even if everyone would say I only got it because of my condition and even if that were true. The cost is people would think I benefited from luck or circumstance and the reward is being able to meaningfully influence a major website and money. Hardly seems like a terrible trade to me.