I must therefore be one of the strawman alt-right people that this person has been taught to hate on reflex.

Yeah, that strawman effect is becoming dangerous to our societies, IMO. We all need to become more willing to engage with people who are different from us, and learn they are (mostly) decent and kind people too. Internet echo-chambers are creating animosity where people would otherwise be getting along just fine. There are always going to be disagreements and differences of opinion, but they don't have to turn into that kind of ugly "reflex hate" that you got the bad end of.