I do agree that ironic hatred is a highly efficient gateway to actual hatred, whether it manifests subconsciously or overtly.
Most aren't careful enough with it in the modern era. It's not that you can't or shouldn't be able to say something caustic and more that most people aren't responsible enough to fully understand what they're potentially enabling. When you find yourself basing your identity around being a "pretend" racist funnyman then you will at some point, whether it's realized or not, find yourself guilty of perpetuating a hateful ideology. It's a memetic culture. The major issue is that in the last few years this archetype has grown in popularity at an alarming rate and it's becoming difficult to tell who is just ignorant and who is an actual nazi sympathiser.
Very excellent response, mister!
Spot on, the political climate currently is a big factor in my opinion when telling who is bad. I'm of the persuasion that if you made it this long into Trump's presidency without realizing that bigotry is out of control then you're just terrible and need to go away. It's pretty funny how Gaming Culture was the one to be majorly co-opted by the alt-right, though, and it's clever as fuck. I'm gonna write a piece on tying nostalgia into white supremacy. brb