Miami, FL – Janette Gantt Palmer has been driving in Florida since disco was cool, but now the DMV is hitting her with the ultimate bureaucratic plot twist: Prove you were born.
At 76 years old, this retired postal worker has had more driver’s licenses than most of us have had hot meals. But thanks to Florida’s new Real ID requirements, she’s stuck in a paperwork black hole because—get this—she can’t prove she was actually born.
The DMV Said “No Birth Certificate? No License. Also, Who Even Are You?”
Janette was born at home in 1949 in South Carolina, back when Jim Crow laws meant Black births weren’t always officially recorded. Fast-forward 55 years of living in Miami, working for the post office, and driving school buses—all with a valid license—and suddenly the DMV is like, “Wait… are you a real person?”
She showed up with her Social Security card, her postal worker ID, and a lifetime of being alive, but nope. The DMV wanted a birth certificate.
Janette: “I’ve been driving since before seat belts were mandatory, but now y’all need proof I exist?”
South Carolina’s Response: “Best We Can Do Is a Court Order and Some 1950s School Records”
Janette reached out to South Carolina’s vital records office, hoping to get a delayed birth certificate. Their response? “Sure, just go back in time, dig up your elementary school attendance sheets, and maybe get a judge to sign off on your existence.”
Her niece, State Rep. Ashley Gantt, managed to get her a 90-day extension, but Janette’s not holding her breath. “God’s gonna work it out,” she says, probably while side-eyeing the DMV.
Meanwhile, Florida’s Real ID Law Is Out Here Canceling People
The Real ID law, which kicks in next month, requires a birth certificate or passport to get a license. But for folks like Janette—born at home in an era when Black births were often ignored—it’s like the system is saying, “Sorry, your existence is unverified.”
Even getting a passport requires a birth certificate, so she’s stuck in a Catch-76 (because, you know, she’s 76).
The Moral of the Story?
Good luck proving you’re not a ghost if you were born before bureaucracy cared about you.