The alt-right is a legitimate movement.  It would be inaccurate for anyone to say otherwise.  That doesn't mean people have heard of it, though.

 

Because it is such a new phenomenon, people don't really know much about it.  As of right now, there is no clear way to define it.  I think the best way to describe it is an "anti-left" movement.  They don't have a core ideology.  They aren't conservatives.  In fact, many of them are millennials who have grown tired of progressives pushing a globalist, conformist agenda.  If there are any defining characteristics of the alt-right, it's that they favor nationalism over globalism, and they believe Western culture is valuable, especially freedom of speech.  

 

As you can see, this creates a platform for white supremacists: they are free to say what they want, and it's easy to replace Western culture with white culture.  However, they are a small minority, and largely disavowed by the alt-right (yet the alt-right still supports their right to say it).

 

It is in the interest of the left, and therefore the press, to paint the entire movement with the broad brush of racism, (since, as previously mentioned, the alt-right is essentially anti-left), but that would be misleading.  The white supremacists among the alt-right are essentially no different than the BLM activists among the progressives, in that you can't say all people on the alt-right are white supremacists, just like you can't say all progressives are BLM activists.  You could make the case that both "radical" groups are enabled by their respective counterparts.  

 

That said, I do think there is a danger that white nationalism could become more prominent if it is not curbed by the less extreme leaders of the alt-right, especially as white nationalist leaders are becoming emboldened by a new found freedom to express their ideas to a potentially emerging audience.  Likewise, the left needs to stop trying to paint everyone associated with it as "racist."  The more that term gets used towards people who are not racist, the more likely they are to become numb to the idea. 

 

All in all, it's just more evidence that the left and right are becoming more polarized.  

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