Race matters at the DMV? Public values, administrative racism, and Whiteness in local bureaucratic settings

Abstract

This paper explores the tension between the formal values of public administration, administrative racism, and Whiteness in the context of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). It asks: (1) Which values—if any—are being promoted and/or hindered at DMV offices? and (2) How the values of equity and equality, as well as racial power dynamics, maybe reinforced by street-level bureaucrats, or by the physical space of bureaucratic settings? Findings from document analysis and observations in a Midwestern state suggest that efficiency is the dominant value, with equality supported through colorblindness, and security as an emerging value. Formal colorblindness and the focus on security, however, allow for the reinforcement of administrative racism and Whiteness through the social construction of White people as “the norm,” ultimately undermining social equity.

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