DMV Archives - The Race Card Project

Ambiguous ethnic origin depending on place

February 28, 2024February 28, 2024 ambiguous, Bowie, DMV, ethnic, MD, Melissa, Mexican Hat Dance, origin

Melissa
Bowie, MD

It wasn’t until I moved to the DMV (the Washington DC metro area, for the uninitiated), that I began to chafe under assumed ethnic identities. I have great examples: waiting for the metro and a metro employee sings the “Mexican Hat Dance” behind me; taking my (blonde) kids to the park and having the other moms assume I am the nanny; an Egyptian man talking to me about “people like us.” It really came to the fore for me when I tried to board a specially chartered plane bound for Poland but operated by El-Al, the Israeli airline. I was stopped, over and over again, at each checkpoint just trying to get to the plane. I was questioned; I was sequestered. I was under intense scrutiny. Finally, I simply asked: why me? The young guard looking over my passport said: “You look like you have an ‘ambiguous ethnic origin.'”

Ever had sex in the backseat?

June 3, 2018June 4, 2018 1960, backseat, CA, DMV, driver's license, driver's test, Earlaine Williams, fear, Oakland, Richmond, sex

Earlaine Williams,
Oakland, CA.

This is the question that was asked of me, when I was 17 years old, by the white man who was administering the driver test at the Depratment of Motor Vehicles in Richmond, CA in 1960.
I was behind the wheel and he was the person who would determine whether or not I received my driver permit. The bigger issue was my level of fear being alone on the road with this person.

Continually frustrated by America’s racial hangups

November 9, 2017November 9, 2017 america, box, check the box, choose, comfortable, denied, DMV, Durham, Europe, frustrated, just black, mixed, NC, pick, racial hangup, Whitney

Whitney,
Durham, NC.

More 6-word offerings…
– Life was less racial in Europe
– Look black, more than half white
– Ticked one box, denied one parent
– Forced to deny half my heritage
– Why should I pick just one?

It’s not that race isn’t an issue in Europe, more that after nearly 8 years living there, I felt more comfortable and more accepted for my mixed race. More people knew at a glance that I wasn’t “just” black, that I was multiple races. Not only that, but there were more boxes for me to tick. There were more options. I didn’t have to choose just one, as I did when registering at the DMV in North Carolina.

Can your name effect you negatively.

May 9, 2016May 9, 2016 CA, define, DMV, effect, interview, judge, name, negative, Ricardo Juan-Ignacio Sanchez, Ricky Sanchez, Sanger

Ricky Sanchez,
Sanger, CA.

My full name is Ricardo Juan-Ignacio Sanchez. I go by Ricky because I am afraid of people judging me for my name. When someone calls me by my full name at the DMV or somewhere else, I get a lot of weird stares and looks at me. If people look at me up and down just because my name, then how is it going to be for a job interview. Will this hurt my chances to get a good job? I feel like it is going to and this isn’t right.

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