A new report on the growing number of hate groups and hate crimes in America provides sad confirmation of the obvious.

Anyone paying the slightest attention to the news already knows that hate in this country is out of control. Yet it’s good to take stock of evil — to quantify it and pinpoint some of the sources — so that government, nonprofit groups, and individuals can better figure out how to combat it.

The Oct. 27 Tree of Life tragedy in Pittsburgh figured prominently in the annual Southern Poverty Law Center report, which counted a record 1,020 hate groups in 2018, up from 954 in 2017.

The hate groups listed in the report operate more or less on the public radar. More difficult to quantify and becoming more pervasive are the cyber-backwaters where zealots can meet, vent and swap conspiracy theories with anonymity.

But here’s one positive note: The dark-hearted and irrationally angry are driven to these marginal spaces because, as the report notes, “they continue to feel the squeeze online and in real life.” Members of these groups know that their views are anathema to most of society, and that means good people have the upper hand.

The (Toledo) Blade