denverqt

The man you were talking about is my father, and having grown up with him, I have been yelled at more times than I can count (even if it was my brother or a stranger who was closer to the vehicle) about being too close to his vehicle or possibly damaging it regardless of the vehicle's age/cost/condition. My brother and I are in our late 30's and still walk on eggshells when it comes to any car; the man keeps a car looking like it's brand new until it is so old it is simply time for a new vehicle. He will park a 15 year old vehicle as far away as possible to prevent anyone within a 40ft radius of possibly damaging it. My father recently got that car, and it was one he had wanted for a very long time. He continues to work full time while being the full time caretaker of my mom/the love of his life who has Alzheimer's; being able to get to the golf course is often his only time for some self-care from often very challenging days. Perhaps his protectiveness of his cars is a character flaw, not one that you would ever know about since you do no know the man, but one I wanted to explain.

My father is a grandfather to two amazing and beautiful biracial twin girls, and he has welcomed my significant other and his older children who are black with open arms, that while not perfect, has been beside himself knowing about this post as his intentions to yell at someone about his "precious" vehicle were not racially motivated. He is a man who has and continues to educate himself and learn about his white privilege and racism, and how to do better to support anti-racism. I am sorry that his apology offered nothing to the damage. Perhaps he'll respond to this post, I'm not sure if he's internet savvy on it though. When I was told there was a post about my father, I was first told that it was that there was a complaint that he yelled at someone about being too close to his car, and I thought, "yeah, he's weird about his cars. I can see why someone would be annoyed." When I heard that the post said my father was singling out someone for being black, I knew that was not the case in this situation.

At the end of the day, the situation you encountered was hurtful for you. I do not know what it is like to be singled out because of my skin color and I do not have to ever wonder if I'm being singled out or accused of something because of my skin color; I do see this happen to the other members of my household, and this is something we have discussions about in our family and how we can be aware and do better. This incident also sparks reflection and discussion how our actions as white people, even with no aware intent of racist actions, can still have racist intent.

I can't speak on every aspect of my father's life or his intentions for everything, so all I could speak on was that when it comes to his car, it doesn't matter who is near it, and that's coming from knowing the man my whole life. Again, I am not condoning his actions, just offering some insight to your question about about why someone would yell at you about a car.

I am not sure you will even see this reply. If you do, maybe it will help offer some insight into the reasoning behind why my dad yelled at you. I can't attest to the "types of people" who golf at SGCC, because I hate golf and haven't seen that place in years, but hopefully after reading this (and maybe my dad will respond; like I said, he knows the post exists, I just don't know if he knows to respond), your choice to not go to the club won't be because of this incident.