During the last presidential election cycle, you may have read reports describing the alt-right—a loosely organized group of anti-PC, anti-feminist, race-obsessed online warriors—as a strange, newly created beast. But in many ways, the movement is simply a continuation of dark trends that have long been present in American society.

A few disparate elements came together to create this motley 2016 insurrection: the videogame culture war that became known as “Gamergate,” the outrage, fanned by mainstream outlets like Fox News, of white men offended by perceived censorship on campuses, and a