Gordon Monson: Are some Utah Jazz fans racist? Yes. Meet a man who is doing what he can to root racism out.

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Blair Hodges grew up in Layton a huge Jazz fan. Huge is an understatement. He remembers with vigor everything about the team, including its trips to the NBA Finals — although he was as ruptured emotionally as anyone over the missed-it-by-that-much eventuality to Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

It still pains him upon reflection.

“I’m scarred,” he says. “I couldn’t even watch the Jordan documentary.”

Yeah, MJ pushed off.

Hodges remains a fan through the hurt.

The events of recent years — inside the game and out — have changed that not one bit, but they have veered much of his energy in a different direction, a more important one.

Hodges is the founder of a grassroots movement known as Jazz Fans Against Racism (JFAR), a group that is not officially affiliated with the Utah Jazz. His goal now isn’t simply to cheer for the team he loves, it’s to help fans better understand that racism does exist in Utah. Whether it happens more or less here than in other fan bases isn’t his issue as much as bringing to awareness and educating people regarding racism when and before evidences of it crop up. He hopes to expand that awareness and education in all directions, to help put not just fans, but all residents in a position to better comprehend and communicate the need for decency, fairness and equality for people of all colors.

“I want people to know that racism happens here,” he says, “To recognize that we need to admit it’s an ongoing issue, and to grapple with it, commit to confronting it within ourselves, our families, our communities in order to make positive changes, instead of living down to a stereotype. To acknowledge it, and try to make those changes.”

Hodges, like others, noticed and was troubled by instances when Jazz fans were involved in what turned out to be highly publicized incidents at Vivint Arena, racist words yelled at Russell Westbrook and, more recently, Ja Morant’s father and mother during games.

He also took note of comments made by some Jazz fans on social media regarding, for instance, a post written by Donovan Mitchell a year ago celebrating Juneteenth, when the Jazz guard said that Black Americans had been “free-ish” since 1865.

“The reaction from some Jazz fans was, ‘You’re a wealthy basketball player, what are you complaining about? It’s racist to say Black people aren’t free,’” Hodges says. “The majority of comments were good, but some of them weren’t. Donovan has publicly tweeted about this. I thought, ‘This is so sad.’ I wanted to get in the conversation.”

Hodges did more than that. He started his JFAR group, which not only encourages fans to educate themselves on race issues and thereafter to get involved in making positive comments on social media, and making contributions in thought and action to discussions of all kinds, but also to contribute in other ways. His Jazz Fans Against Racism movement is currently seeking donations for and gifting them to the Black History Museum, a mobile bus that travels around the state with displays and information about Black history and culture in Utah.

The group is donating $2,600 to the museum, collected during the playoffs this past month by way of selling T-shirts and stickers and hoodies and water bottles and other items.

It’s a small effort, but one Hodges believes is growing and he looks forward to bigger efforts in the future.

“This is about being open minded, and opening our eyes to the race problems that exist,” he says.

Hodges, 39, who is white, says he grew up in a typical middle-class neighborhood in Layton, never giving race much thought because he spent no time around anyone of color. When he went on a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mission to Milwaukee, and worked in an area that was largely Black, he dove into informing himself about Black culture: “Being a minority myself was new for me,” he says.

What he learned never left him.

Hodges went on to earn a degree in journalism and religious studies, working at BYU in communications, doing podcasts and other kinds of social media.

When the events of the past year happened, “I got more and more interested in race and religion,” he says. The tragedy involving George Floyd, among other events, made a serious impression on him. And when the sorry cases involving Jazz fans in the arena unfolded, and those incidents were reported, he initially didn’t want to believe it.

“I’d hear Jazz fans are racist and I got defensive,” he says. “Over time, I realized it does happen here. Instead of just saying, ‘Well, at least I’m not racist,’ I decided to start doing videos and other social media stuff, transferring the communication skills I used at BYU to address race issues as a part of this project.”

Hodges’ project has included the release of 11 videos that explore subjects ranging from athletes kneeling during the national anthem to the general definitions of racism. One of the vids is called “Speak Up and Dribble,” a play off of and counter to the disreputable notion of “Shut up and dribble,” which scolds athletes who give opinions on significant matters of the day.

So far, Hodges says the videos have been viewed online some 30,000 times. His Twitter account has 3,600 followers and another thousand on Instagram.

“It’s intended to educate and advocate among Jazz fans the idea of how to be more aware and sensitive to racism,” he says. “To be aware that it happens, and be sensitive to things that are racist, such as calling Russell Westbrook, ‘boy.’ That word has a history and a lot of Jazz fans don’t know that. Most people when you explain things to them, they can change how they interact with people of color.

“That’s what I wanted to do at the beginning — give people ideas of things they can chew on, to start discussions with their families and friends. There’s a lot of power in a grassroots movement.”

He adds that awareness and understanding are useful counters, not just among individuals in their own connections to racism, but also in systems in Utah communities, ranging from the structure of neighborhoods to opportunities in education to healthcare.

“Systemically, it’s cooked into our state,” he says.

He encourages fans to engage in conversations with people of color, to “listen to their voices,” to get out of their own “bubbles,” to “get into comment sections on social media,” to “take the narrative in those spaces.”

Hodges, who now works for Volunteers of America, Utah, is no expert, and he doesn’t consider himself that. Jazz Fans Against Racism isn’t a formal educational experience, it’s just a group of people — fans — who want to learn about and discuss matters of racism and learn how to be better in actions and words.

“I’m learning, as well,” he says. “This has been a journey for me. I’ve had to learn from a lot of people myself, talking with people of color in Utah, outside of Utah, people who are fans. Hopefully, we can learn and grow together.”

GORDON MONSON hosts “The Big Show” with Jake Scott weekdays from 2-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone.