The alt-right can trace its history back to the Ku Klux Klan, the “timeworn face of white supremacy,” which has risen again since its heyday in the 1920s. In the 1980s, white supremacists returned to the national scene as a group with a global Aryan goal. As white supremacy became taboo in more recent years, its leaders urged members to keep their opinions private. White supremacists now blended into society in a way they had not done before. They did exist on the outskirts of society, however. White supremacist leaders told their followers to “infiltrate institutions to secure influence,” and they listened. They have maintained positions in local police departments and other law enforcement agencies. Others are average members of society, but those who share their racist sentiments at home, at church, restaurants or bars, or online.
The white supremacist cause operated online and in smaller circles, and some members sought to change that. In order to do so, they have instituted new names and causes that could garner more support from the public. These causes were “‘white heritage preservation’, ‘white nationalism’ and, most recently, the ‘alt-right.’” While they argue that they are not white supremacists, that they are the victims of reverse racism, or that they are simply proud of their so-called white heritage, their causes remain the same as always. Their belief in white supremacy has not wavered. Despite their efforts to rebrand, the alt-right “only hope[s] to create a softer veneer for their virulent racial and anti-Semitic hate.” A “softer veneer” would, in theory, help the alt-right gain more followers and more attention by mainstream media. The way the alt-right claims to be the victims in society is a tactic that deflects the blame for the harm they cause by promoting white supremist statements and values.