Life Where I'm From thank you! I only ask because I'm on a similar path finding who I am. I am Puerto Rican and Antiguan but I want to know more. Love your channel and I pray for the opportunity to see Japan in person!
wait ... so now that you’re married to a full japanese woman, your kids literally have japanese, chinese, scottish, mayan, portuguese, spanish _and_ native american?? dang. edit: sorry! i’ve come to realize mayans are native americans, thank u to everyone in the comments that pointed this out, 😓
First off, let's get one thing straight, Mayans ARE Native Americans. Native American isn't an ethnicity, it'a a pseudo racial term which could apply to any of the various indigenous ethnicities of the Americas. Secondly, the so-called Native Americans are genetically the same as Mongoloid aka East Asians. So at the end of the day he's really only part White and part Asian.
Lol “full Japanese”. I’ll be really happy when all these ideas about race and ethnicity and measures of them, get left behind and we see them for what they are ; cultural fictions. None of it means anything.
Kombinatsiya I think it's so amazing how different and similar they look at the same time. If you look at their whole faces they look different but they all have similar features.
Yeah, if I had bumped into all of them on the street, I wouldn't think they were related at all. It seems like in each of them, a different part of their mix comes out more than the other parts. I had always thought Greg had Middle Eastern heritage!
I can't remember where I read or saw it recently because i read a lot of articles and watch documentaries, but you could be a percentage of a certain ethnicity and your sibling has a different combination. It's really interesting and something I'd never thought of before.
it really is ! siblings can inherit different traits and different amounts of a certain ethnicity from the parents. for example my siblings and i are mixed and i happen to look more asian than my siblings, they however look mixed. people say i look asian and white or just asian, and my siblings black & white / hispanic. it’s really cool how different mixed families can look.
im 100% filipino and if i saw u in person without knowing ur channel i would say ur half filipino haha only because u have a full beard and that's not common for us along with your eyes and just facial structure but anyways this video was super cool to watch def loved it i wish i was also mixed :D
@@aliasmarg8ta127 "Filipino" itself is a very broad term. Most Filipinos in the north look more East Asian, the south look more Polynesian, but most are generally a mix. And then there's my 100% "pure" Filipino DNA with German, Norwegian, Siberian, Japanese traces.. Def give 23andme a try!
I'm half Japanese Filipino even then i had german spanish chinese on my Filipino side. 48% Japanese 12%Spanish 10% german 20%(malay,indonesian,taiwan,Filipino native) 8% chinese 2% others most likely Japanese as well but native Japanese i dunno the specific term. My grandpa fought for the empire of Japan my grandpa on my mother side was german American descent half meztiso(mixed Filipino and Spanish) fought for the allies during war.
I am very proud to be Canadian and to have had the privilege of living in such a safe, tolerant, and vibrant country for all my life. It's very hard for me to imagine ever living in another country but I think I should definitely try doing so at one point in my life to gain new experiences. That being said, as an avid viewer of your videos I've also always wondered what your ethnic background is time and time again and I'm really glad that you created this video explaining that by including the point of views of all your siblings. I cannot express in words how relevant this video is to me personally. I just can't believe how similar our ethnic backgrounds are. I, myself, was born in Ontario, Canada but my parents are both natives of Guyana; my mother is half Chinese (paternally) and half Amerindian (maternally, Indigenous peoples of South America) and my father is half Portuguese (maternally) and half Brazilian/Mixed (paternally). Similarly, I cannot count how many times I've been asked what my background is and I would say about 80% of the time I'm mistaken for Filipino and the remaining 20% Mexican. All in all, I absolutely enjoy your videos because they are informative (well-researched/structured), inspirational, and interactive. I have an obsession with Japanese culture, history, and cuisine and I plan on making it my next vacation destination. In essence, what I would like you to know is that your videos are very precious to me because I feel as though I'm "living" my dream life through them (I don't want to sound weird but I'm not exactly sure how else to phrase it). To end my long tangent, I wish you all the best with your first feature-length documentary: "Being Japanese."
@huckleberryfinn01 That was very informative - thanks. Knowing very little about the history I was thinking of Filipinos as being Asian/Pacific Islanders but of course there was the Spanish colonial period which I know little of. And some Chinese related history apparently. The anti-Spanish rebellion (?) leader there in the Spanish-American War period or thereabouts was Japanese.
I don't know if I made this video well or not. Obviously the production quality of footage isn't the greatest. Some boomy audio and frozen and stuttering video. I was trying to kill a few birds with a single stone. One was that people always ask my background/ethnicity/race on RUclips, so if they actually are interested, this is about as complete as an answer as I can give. Although really, I could have thrown up the pie chart at the beginning of the video and most would have been satisfied. People also ask me why I'm making a documentary. Growing up as Canadian and growing up Japanese are very different in my mind. Same as becoming Japanese vs. becoming Canadian. Many will say you can't become Japanese. If that's their opinion, fair enough, I won't be trying to beat some globalism agenda over their heads. For the stories of people, I'm more interested in the smaller scale, what it's like to be them. To give context to people's stories, I will be delving a bit into the past, mainly focusing on the present, and then look out towards the future. People ask what my bias is, and depending on how you view it, I think this video kind of shows it. Having an identity is important. If I couldn't say I was Canadian (and I'm a proud one), I'd be very distraught. I love being a Canadian and feel very lucky to be one. I don't really understand the prerogative that some have about including and excluding people out of their identities, or out of multiple one's. I think in the end we're all humans. I also think you can be many things at the same time: a baseball player, a musician, a mechanic, and a husband. You can also be part of multiple ethnic groups, and maybe instead of them being all separate parts, it's just additional things that you are. Solid wall of text accomplished, I'm out of here.
I came to this channel for the videos on housing in Japan and now I am watching a video on ethnicity. Nearly 700K subscribers and still growing. You have a very personable nature and interesting subject matter that keeps everyone coming back. So keep up the good work!
Good video. Definitely re: identity. It hurts me when other people say that I'm not who I am even after I've told them. It's exhausting explaining each time with them seeing only my skin rather than character/personality/interests, but it's also exhausting backing myself up each time. I'm British and nobody can take that away from me. I am who I am. And yes, it's much more interesting to see where we're going.
Guys, that was so interesting! I am Brazilian but my background is also a whole new story. My father is fully Japanese, but my mom is Paraguayan with Kurdish, Syrian and Spanish background. I have 2 older brothers and we all look different from each other. People don’t usually think my 2nd oldest brother is half Japanese at all because he looks like my mom, and my older brother looks like he is full Japanese (he also lives in Japan). In my case, sometimes people think I’m full Japanese because I’m the fairest one, even though I look like my mom. But if you ask any of us, we will always say that we are Brazilians, and that is it. Our background is part of our life, but you can’t define people just because of that. I truly understand what you guys feel about it. Thank you for the excellent video!
I have japanese background from both sides. My grandparents from my father side were born in 1890, lol. But I was born and raised in Brazil, which is a really mixture pot. My cousin is half japanese and half italian + portuguese. The other cousin is half japanese and half turkish. I have a friend that has a portuguese last name, but he think he has spanish, portuguese and angolan plus native indian background. I find it so amusing.
In Latin America we first and lastly identify with each of our nationalities, I mean, mestizaje is just the norm so I guess we don't mind much about that
I can really identify with this video :) I'm full Chinese, both my parents immigrated from China to the US before I was born, but I think I identify more as an American than anything else. I guess the gray area doesn't really seem that gray for me (since I'm not mixed in any capacity), but while I've been studying abroad in China, I've found it harder and harder to answer the question, "what are you?". Sure I look Chinese and I speak a Mandarin well enough, but my experience is vastly different from any Chinese person I've met in the past year. When people assume I'm a native, I get caught in these weird situations where I get misunderstood for doing things the way I do. None of my relatives consider me Chinese, and I don't think I have any authority to speak for Chinese people or represent their experience. Instead, I think the most accurate description I have for myself is "Chinese American" or just "American".
We are second-generation "immigrants"/Americans, and many people like us have this divided feeling you described. I have a similar background to yours but have Mexican parents. I would call myself Mexican-American, not solely Mexican or American.
I think it's wonderful that neither you or your brothers ever felt outward discrimination. I live in Western New York and my daughter, half Western European and half Arab, will tell kids in her school she is Puerto Rican. She does this because, when she was 6, she lost a few friends when she said her father was from Iraq. One boy actually told her, "we can't be friends anymore, we hate your people." It's heartbreaking. Being near the Canadian border and visiting often, I find Canada embraces diversity far better than the US.
yvonne wyder what in the hell??? 6 year olds say that? In 2018? That’s so sad, your daughter deserves to be around people who are more accepting that that kid :/ it’s sad to think that the other kid’s parents brainwashed him into basically being racist
True. My mom is Filipino, from the Philippines, but she has a mixture of Chinese and Spanish. My dad was born in Hawaii and is ethnically part Filipino, with a hint of Chinese through the Filipino side, and part British (specifically Scottish). What a small world.
Life Where I'm From I thought so too haha. But then again, we can think of it as two different dishes are the same since they have the same ingredients. Hahaha Love your videos :)))
Extremely enlightening video!! I truly enjoyed this, and being a half-Japanese and caucasian person I found this video very relatable. I feel similar to your second eldest brother, because like him, I look very white compared to my two siblings that look very Asian. My mother is full Japanese, and my dad is part Scottish, Spanish, Iberian, Armenian, Native, etc. I look different from my siblings but feel very Japanese even though many people mistaken me as being Mexican or Filipino. Anyways thanks for the great video Greg !!
Very interesting background! I'm a teacher in Japan and when I explain my Euro-mutt background (Dominant English, Scottish and some Austrian) my students are always amazed at how unique I must be. But I tell them that when it comes to Canadians, my background is very unremarkable and that we all have a story of where our ancestors came from and when they mixed. Your interviews with your brothers show that even with Canada's very mixed population, it tends to be those who have more visibly non-Anglo Saxon, or just "darker," features that get asked about their background. A few of my Canadian friends who belong to visible minorities and have more recent immigrant roots, have told me stories that they sometimes get mistaken as foreign by other Canadians. For example, Visible Minority Friend says "I'm heading home for a few months," referring to their parents house in a different Canadian city, maybe an hour away. Anglo Saxon Friend "What?? You are going back to *Parent's/Grandparent's Home Country*??" Canada is home to people of so many different backgrounds, and while I think in general it is a very accepting place I think we need to remind ourselves that physical features/ethnicity are not indicators or hints at one's nationality. This is something I always try to teach my students when they ask "Where are you from?"
I love your videos! Made me really happy to see this and find out you're Guyanese! I am a Sicilian and Indo-Guyanese uni student in the United States hoping to ultimately write a thesis on Guyanese/Caribbean GSFS content. I would love to hear more about your experience as a Guyanese. The Chinese Guyanese narrative is not commonly spoken about but so crucial to share as we decolonise oursleves! Thank you for this!
I'm Hispanic,Irish, Blackfoot Indian and Scottish. My family and I went to the Japan pavilion at Disney World and all of the people that worked there kept asking me if I was Japanese and if i was sure that i wasn't Japanese! Lol! They were surprised when I told them that I was Hispanic and everything. We had a good talk. 😊❤
Same happened to me ! I'm French, Corean, American (English and Dutch mostly) and Czech. In France, where I live, many people thought, the first time they met me, that I was at least half Arab or half Turk. And a majority of those who thought this were from these ethnicies.
I want to personally thank you for putting out this video, and for all the work you do in all your videos. I came across them by chance while looking for better content to show my children. We are an American family that identifies as mixed Asian-White, but as your video points out so well, these kind of labels don't begin to cover the real history and experience of ethnicity and nationality. Growing up in the predominantly white state of Oregon as a Chinese, Japanese, Filipina (and slightly English & Dutch lol) kid, I experienced countless instances of casual racism throughout the 80's and 90's. Yet, like your brother mentioned, we had no strong ties to any of these backgrounds - my father grew up in Hawaii, and my mother had emigrated from Japan at a very young age. My mother is Japanese-Filipina but she grew up in a rural white religious community. My father is Chinese but born and raised in Honolulu and culturally far removed from the old country - he still rocks his cowboy hat and he used to collect Civil War memorabilia for some reason - raised us on Star Wars, Bruce Lee and Clint Eastwood movies lol. I have definitely felt the pangs of "not enough of anything" in my life and often become excited when I meet another person who I think is Filipino, etc (your brother's story on that cracked me up). My husband, on the other hand, is a Euro mutt mix including Swedish, Finnish, Scottish, Jewish and more, and we often have discussions about how he's never been asked "where are you from"... "what are you?"... etc. He does get people thinking he's Russian come up to him at work and begin speaking, so I've told him why not just learn Russian? :) I've had people assume I'm Vietnamese, Korean, and more - and sometimes it's the excited "Oh, I'm this, are you this too??" but just as often it's been some caucasian guy saying "You couldn't be Japanese with legs like that," or "You're Korean, aren't you? I can always tell." The rudeness and entitlement some people exhibit when it comes to inquiring about background astounds me. The persistence of racism in America is a thing, and as a mother of two boys I worry about how they'll be perceived and treated. Our oldest son is much darker in hair and skin tone, while the younger is very fair and might barely end up looking Asian at all. I already have noticed a difference in how people react to them and treat them. Your whole family is gorgeous and we appreciate your brothers sharing their stories so candidly. All the vignettes were SO relatable. I really adore the kindhearted humor you all brought to this video. The internet can be a very harsh place and I'm not surprised at some of the gross and presumptive comments you've received. Please know that your work is very inspiring and deeply appreciated. All the information about Japan has us thinking about how we could attempt to make the move ourselves, lol (my mother's side roots come from Fukuoka, but we have completely lost touch)... and we also especially enjoyed the Homeless series - my 8 yr old watched it all the way through with me as it's an issue he cares a lot about. Thanks again & best regards.
I'm an American of German/Irish ancestry and when I go to the Russian store in my Brooklyn neighborhood the cashier will first talk to me in Russian! One cashier looks very Asian and spoke to me in Russian. I had a chance to talk to her and she is from Kazakhstan, a former Soviet Republic which stretches from China to Russia, almost to the Ukraine. We are all just humans but I find this origin and different cultures thing very interesting.
You guys all look different wow. So basically you’re what the world would look like in the future where all ethnicities are mixed and there would be no longer different singular ethnicities lol
@@savedemperor8024 There are no "races", they are man made. Genetically we are all the same. Some people just made up "races", but you could define anything as a race: all red-haired people, all green-eyed people etc. There are no races.
It's so cool that you decided to share this with us, when you didn't have to! Thank you very much! It's awesome to see the mix of ethnicities and it was fun to know that people from different ethnicities think you're the same ethnicity as them. I feel the struggle, because even though I'm "full Spanish", people think I'm Asian or at least part Asian...
I just discovered your channel and am so grateful that I did! Thank you for posting this video. I am Canadian born Chinese (although I don't look very 'Chinese') and have always struggled with having this 'dual identity', while constantly being asked: "what are you?" It's so nice to hear that others like you and your family can relate to me as well.
Thank you for exploring the subject of race and ethnicity in a positive and endearing manner. I think ethnicity and identity can be closely linked and important to people in a positive way.
I think knowing where you came from is an important facet of who we are. But I think in non-homogeneous countries like Canada it's more open and accepting (comparatively). But places like Japan aren't as diverse and open and will still see you as a foreigner or "not really" Japanese. Look at how many (not all) treated Ariana Miyamoto. And then we have counties like The US, that like to claim diversity but it's not really and racism is very rampant. And still apply outdated and backwards identifiers like the "one-drop rule". And that then causes people to feel like they have to choose. I have lots of half black and white friends that say they're too dark to be "white" and too light to be "dark" (unless they can pass for white). A lot of them tend to lean towards the black side but then there's the sigma of colourism in the black community and that opens up a whole other problem. You have the caste system in Indian culture and other Asian cultures where the darker the person the less attractive or poor. I think the only time race shouldn't matter is when people use that knowledge or what you are to look at you as less than. I love looking into what "I am" and learning about the culture. It makes me feel closer to the world as a whole, because 99% none of us aren't just one thing (unless you're from a long line of inbreeding, lol). And the more we look into our family history the more we see we're all just flesh and bones.
You reminded me of the old joke about a New England fishing village. A family, husband, wife and a month old baby boy move to the village. The baby grows first into boyhood, then into manhood, marries and lives in the village never leaving it until he passes at the age of 97. At the funeral, the pastor begins his eulogy saying, "God, please bless this stranger to our shores..."
Very fascinating and fun! I loved hearing your brothers' different experiences and thoughts, and seeing what your brothers all looked like. Great family interactions. And I agree that in the end, who we are / have become and where we are going / who we will be is what matters. Thanks!
Fascinating. I had wondered (just in passing, not obsessively!) what your background might be, and had guessed there might be some indigenous element. It's healthy I think that you all seem to have a 'so what?' attitude, and I'm pleased to hear that you didn't suffer any undue discrimination.
"A little bit of everything and a little bit of nothing. You're that but you don't belong there because you're never enough of that category." THIS IS TOO TRUE. I only have two sides to my Asian genetics as a whole and neither community accepts me as their own. One for not looking like them and the other for not knowing their language.
Wonderful video! Interesting topic. I was born and raised in P.R. and moved to the U.S. as a teen. After living here for 30yrs. I feel more "American" compared to my Puertorrican friends and family. My American spouse is Portuguese as far as DNA but knows nothing of Portugal. Strangers often think he is hispanic. And finally, our children were adopted from China. Talk about a melting pot!
Fascinating!! You and your brothers all look so different. The bro with the red shirt looks more Scottish. And the first one you showed looks more Mayan/Native American. And you look more Chinese/Native American (called it lol) what an interesting family mix y'all are! 😎
This is a beautiful video. I love how you and your brothers are still so connected and close, even though you live far apart from each other. And the conclusion is amazing! Great work!
Your family is very unique. Thank you for sharing! Despite the complexities that may have came your way while growing up, you all grew up to be very cool individuals. Cheers from Canada! :)
This was fascinating! I always love researching into my heritage (which is all European) so it was fun to learn about yours and learning about your brothers as well! Thank you for taking the time, Greg. :)
You know, I love your family .. And now m so happy to see all the positive attitudes of you and your brothers... Few of those questions or incidents would have offended me.. but still all of you are so fun.. This amazes me. And you have such a calm and happy personality..God bless you and your family.. Love from India..
I love all your videos. Everything you tackle is so thoughtfully done and with sincerity. It was so nice to meet your brothers and learn more about the man behind the camera. 💜
Our family ancestry/identity is mixed as well. We are West Indian. Me saying that means we are a mixed bag of people. My mother's side is Guyanese (British and as yet, unidentified African roots). My father's side is Trinidadian/Bajan (my grandfather was East Indian and my father's grandmother was Spanish Venezuela). My family are all shades of the rainbow! How can you say who you are when you are so many??? When I am in Europe I say I'm Caribbean. When I am in Asia I say West Indian. I was born in NJ. When I'm back in the US people don't think I'm American. It is fun to keep people guessing. Thank you so much for this video!
Wow we have a very similar background. My mother's side is Guyanese as well (African with some East Indian) and my father's side is Trinidadian. Also, I was born and raised in New Jersey. I'm not really all that mixed tho (most of my background is African). Also this really was a great video!
Loved the video! Love the channels! And love the stories! Keep up the great work! The old family photos were a hilarious heart warming touch. Can’t wait for the next video!
“Are you Filipino?” Exactly my thoughts the first time I saw you in your vids lol. Tbh it doesn’t matter. The content of your videos is what’s interesting 👍👍👍
I love how patient and relaxed you are with 'getting to the point' in this video and most of your videos. You always follow nice and clear steps towards your conclusions but don't shout about it, nor put down markers to let everyone know that this is going somewhere. In a lot of ways your videos are like listening to a friend who's a very rational thinker explain their stories: You can trust that they have a point and that every bit will matter. I think it's fantastic and I look forward to your film! Best wishes to your families and be sure to thank them for sharing with us a little bit of Canadian wisdom.
Great video showing lots of perspective. I'm half Chinese, where my Chinese side comes from Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago too! Explaining the history behind the Chinese servitude is always an interesting conversation when someone asks about my ethnicity. Keep up the great videos!!
It's well past time to stop thinking of race as the answer to "who am I?" It's interesting to know where our ancestors came from, and the challenges they faced. It's fun to see a child that looks very much like a parent, and to see interesting features that we just can't pin down. But that is not who we are. Ultimately, who we are is up to us individually. If it seems wrong for someone to say, "you don't belong here because you're the wrong race", then don't look for self-identity there. Is there such a thing as "race"? I don't think so. It's just latching onto arbitrary characteristics. It doesn't make any more sense than saying, "I have attached/detached earlobes - that's who I am."
WOOT, Winnipeg! I am also Filipino (and thought that your eldest brother was too!), and I'll still invite him to meet my family. :) It's very interesting to see how different you all look, but the love you have for each other is so very visible!
I AM BELIZEAN TOO!!! Miss Queen of The Bay New York 2011-12! I think it’s really funny because I feel that Children of Belizean immigrants all struggle to explain what their ethnicity is because our country has such a unique history and incredibly mixed culture for such a tiny country. When I was growing up, I never knew how to answer, and when I’d visit family in Belize I would ask them as well, and could never get a straight answer. I honestly still don’t know how to answer, just to make it easier for other people without giving them a history lesson, I just say I am “Black”. No one will ever be happy with what you tell them lol. Also, only in America and European countries does it seem like it matter. Belize is such a weird country because Other Caribbean islands don’t consider us Caribbean, and our neighboring spanish countries don’t like to claim us either, it’s very strange. Honestly, because we are such a tiny country, everyone is most likely related in some way shape or form, so you might just be a cousin, you honestly look so much like my dad it’s scary and your brothers look like they could be my uncles! Love your videos ❤️❤️❤️ and please teach your children more about Belizean culture because it’s so beautiful, from our food, to the way we speak kriol! It’s incredible!
The interaction between you and your brothers alongside those family photos of you guys together is so endearing and heart-warming. Thanks for sharing.
All of the hateful race-based comments I see on your videos reek of projection. I can't honestly imagine any reason why someone would insult your sense of identity other than the fact that they're struggling with their own.
So perfect. Everything doesn't have to fit into a tiny box because then you start to make assumptions about someone without even knowing them. While it's interesting to know someone's ethnicity, I say treat the person as the person instead of their race/ethnicity.
I'm very happy to have watched this presentation. I'd say you are all pretty remarkable individuals. Watching you parse out the issues raised here is very enlightening, and I agree that we are all headed toward a world where "what" we are is determined less by our genetics and more by the choices and goals each of us pursue in life. Personally, I'm a "white" (Italian and Scottish) guy raised in NorCal and am really grateful that I grew up in a culturally diverse place on the west cost of North America. Thank you for an interesting exploration into a very salient topic.
Cute video. I did my genetic test and got the biggest laugh - seeing in black and white the words 50/50. Hahaha! 50% northern european (mostly British), and 50% east asian (mostly Korean). Our nieces and nephews are more mixed - my siblings married Algerian-French, Jewish, Africa-American and Korean spouses. The melting pot indeed!
I used to live in Alaska, and Greg & his bros look like a lot of the Haida and Tlingit I knew from Southeast Alaska. I always figured he was from a native group like that. (Aboriginal and indigenous aren't terms that are used often here in the US.)
Greg, thank you! I just really enjoy your videos! This one about your siblings was amazing. I now see why you are "who" you are! You're and amazing man Greg. Again thank you. BTW....have you ever thought about doing a video about how the Japanese care for their dead? Just curious. Many years ago, when my DH was in the US Army, he was stationed in Germany, in a very small base near Frankfurt. I was amazed at the way the German cemeteries were....Each week-end people went to the cemetery to care for their loved ones graves. The headstones were gorgeous.
I really love the way of your videos.. Or specifically the way you deliver it or the quality of content.. You say everything with a smiling face, friendliness.. It's more like I can feel warmth of your videos.. It's like a warm welcome when we enter someone's home.. Even in this video there are actually many places where you could feel sensitive or kind of disappointed (in others by the way they ask).. I mean not many people would be comfortable opening themselves up.. But you always took everything as if "It's ok.. Doesn't matter to me".. That spreads so much of positive vibes, at least for me as a viewer personally.. And you even opened up a honest video not only yourself but also with your brothers.. I admire how you take things warmly a lot.. That smiling face and not much worried expression. I am a foreigner living abroad, where I am always insecure of myself thinking may be I don't belong here, may be people see me different.. I know I am just prejudicing myself. But I couldn't help, which made me a total introvert 😞
Go Canada! I love finding out where people are from, and feel this reflects Canada and hopefully the future of the world. One nation with a history based in many
This reminds me of a comment I heard once from a mixed white and Asian person which was sometimes he felt like he belonged everywhere and nowhere at the same time. edit: should of finished the video but you're brother also mentioned that same phrase haha 15:57
This was really fun to watch! I think you guys had a great, thoughtful conversation. It was nice seeing another side of you and your family! As always, thanks for the great and thoughtful content!
And then have your entire genetic code on file in some stranger's database forever. Always check the small print before sending your DNA for analysis, and make sure what you get back is worth what you're giving them.
I think for the most part they KNOW where they are from, where their lineage comes from etc but i think this video focuses more on what they identify as
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR USING THE TERMINOLOGY CORRECTLY!!! i might not have grown up on an indigenous community but i feel very deeply for that part of my ancestry and when people say "Native American" who aren't and tell others that "Indian" is such an "un-PC" term to use, i kind of go a little crazy! you've totally go that right though! for those who don't know, the correct term to use now IS "INDIGENOUS!" although i obviously cannot speak for those who grew up in their "nation" or with their own people, for me, knowing the history behind the word "Indian," there is HUGE narrative involved there which includes all of the the pain and horrible treatment up through today that the indigenous peoples of the americas have had to go through and still go through, including horrific human rights violations. with that said, i have always found "Native American" to be slightly more demeaning than "Indian" because although the term was used incorrectly which is how it entered our lexicon in the first place, it carries with it the memory of all the horrors indigenous peoples have had to go through ... so there is more meaning in the word "Indian" than "Native American" (the woman I mention below said the same thing!). WITH ALL OF THAT SAID, the proper term now (which i feel is the best anyway!) is, in fact, INDIGENOUS. you know what is interesting ... the skin color thing and the hair color thing and having full-siblings who are much darker or lighter than you are is not unusual. my mom is largely lakota but she was adopted (her parents were much older and so her biological half-siblings were all in their 70s and up when we were very young, so there was like a 30-40 year gap between her and her actual siblings, who she didn't even know existed until after my sister and i were born!) and my dad is largely german but he has some cherokee in his family. i actually met an indigenous woman who was from a reservation (outside of the reservation; the context i will not mention for identity protection!) and when she found out that i was as largely indigenous as i was despite being so fair-skinned, i explained to her that my sister is much darker and with much darker hair than mine and she told me that even in full-blooded (or what they think ... it's very hard to know 100% without getting blood tests to test alllll the way back!) indigenous families, it is not at all unusual for one sibling to be fairly light-skinned and even have light brown or dark blonde hair (that is me) and for another to be much darker complexioned and have much darker hair. i thought that was really interesting information! i love when your brother says that it really doesn't matter what your "ethnicity" is (or "ethnicities" are) but more about what we are going to do and what impact we are going to make going forward. i love that. when we were growing up, we had a very wide range of "ethnicities" in our very small elementary school (we had the usual african-american and caucasian but we also had quite a few kids who were korean or indian or egyptian or peruvian or one of a large number of "ethnicities."). honestly we didn't even realize there was a difference until someone was accused of stealing a pencil and the parent of one kid freaked out that it was a "racist" accusation. we were all very upset because we didn't get it. but i think we have to really return to that mindset because it really doesn't matter where you come from but, again, as your brother said, where we are going. when we focus on the differences we end up with the "race wars" that are going on; we end up with the egregious human rights violations that are going on in china and so much of the rest of the world trying to eradicate ethnic minorities. why?!? why can't we just be people who are looking to be happy and to find our places in life so that we can make the world a better place? as an american, that is a question that i honestly cannot answer because i feel like we're looking increasingly backward at a terrifyingly exponential rate ... and as we have seen, there is no good that can come from that. thank you for this video! my apologies for the very long comment but this is something about which i have a lot to say, especially having an adopted mother and having had such an incredibly diverse range of friends when i was so young. i think if we could keep that going and not even notice the differences between us but note the QUALITIES of different cultures, we would be living in a much better world.
My boyfriend and I are watching your videos every evening since we discovered the channel. It has been so helpful as we will be going to Japan in May next year. We are getting so many tips from every single video. Thank you for sharing such great content with all of us
I think the reason why people ask if your Mexican, is because of the native side. My father has native roots, he was born in mexico. He also looks native as well haha
Greetings from an Australian I. Philippines. You and your brothers could definitely blend in here without anyone blinking an eye. When you come from an immigrant country I think the where are you from story can be viewed as "what's the story of your family?". Your ancestors have an interesting history of migration and intercultural marriage. Each of those stories make up a small part of who you are and represent the small part of each of those people that you carry within you. Your kids (and mine) have a whole other group of stories from their mothers family, perhaps more centred on one place. Hopefully as parents we can pass on the stories of our ancestors to give them a tie to the past as they take our stories into the future.
really interesting video and it certainly answer most of my question cause i often thought you does have the asian look but i can't makeup what other ethnic mix do you have.
Loved this video Greg! I've been watching your channel for more than a year now and never had a thought about your ethnicity but I identify as Guyanese American (ethnically Indian) and it's always super interesting to examine Guyanese culture because it's such a mixture of cultures and colonial influence. But I agree with you, it doesn't really matter where you're from, it's about where you're going. Thanks for the great content as always!
I’m Chamorro which reefers to the native people of Guam (Guam is an island of the Marianas and larger Micronesia (western pacific) which is currently the most western US territory) my parents, siblings, and I all look different from one another with very slight similarities. I’m “The White one” in my family. lol people always ask me what I am. In Guam most Filipino people would sometimes assume I am Filipino. Though at school I was again the white boy. In the states I have gotten Spanish, Filipino, and once a coworker guessed Chinese/Irish haha. No one ever guesses correctly I guess...
Myself: Scots, Irish, Cherokee, Shoshone, French and German.....that we know of. :) Hard to NOT be a "mutt", in the US, if you're not a first-generation immigrant.
It's hard to not be a mutt anywhere in the world these days. Even the so called "homogeneous" countries aren't 100% a certain ethnicity/race. Especially is Asia with China's dominance over the centuries.
Great vid/ Topic! Coming from Vancouver myself, I find there's a lot of curiosity regarding background since the city is such a cutural medley. Ending up in Japan with it's glaring monocuture, I can see why we get asked these questions so frequently as mixed-race children are uncommon still. I do find that there can be a minor prejudice at times in Japan when it comes to uncertainty of your race, however it's usually easily dispelled by a nod/bow of respect to show you understand the culture.
I can also attest to the claim of never feeling like I've been discriminated. Maybe I have and just didn't see it that way. I don't usually (like ever) think that someone that's being rude to me is because of my race or ethnicity. I just assumed they're jerks and that's it.
I think you're just Canadian, eh? p.s. tell your brother in Winnipeg that he could be getting FREE MEALS EVERY DAY if he'd say, Yes, I am Filipino :) (MMMM, Filipino food is so good!)
I really enjoyed this. We are always asked where we are from and people often guess incorrectly. It was interesting to watch you and your brothers discuss something we've dealt with.
I never actually wondered too much about your race when watching your other videos but your explanation is awesome! I'm also a mut and proud of it. Growing up, I was always asked by classmates "What ARE you?!"and I would usually just shrug because I didn't think it mattered. Now that I'm older, I'm finding my ethnic background to be fascinating, although I still strongly believe that race isn't what defines a person. I've got mostly Apache Navajo on my mom's side and a possibility of some Spanish too. My grandma was a teenager when she had my mom so my mom was adopted by her aunt who was married to an immigrant from Mexico. Since the Navajo tribe came from Japan and still has almost identical culture and language to this day, my mom grew up in a Asian, Native American, Mexican culture. When she was a kid she was often confused as to why she never fit in with the Mexican crowd and why Asian immigrants in her school would try to speak their own languages to her. My dad is mostly Irish with some Korean and Cherokee somewhere in his DNA but he was adopted by a Scottish man and was raised in a Scottish-American culture. So my sister and I grew up in a mix of Asian, Native American, Mexican, and Scottish American cultures, but we aren't Mexican or Scottish. I never really learned anything about our Irish heritage but I'd still like to visit Ireland one day. I definitely have set a goal to visit Japan, the home of my ancestors' ancestors- our not-so-distant relatives- but I'll have to learn Japanese first.
"I'm finding my ethnic background to be fascinating, although I still strongly believe that race isn't what defines a person." Yes. But you should definitely do a DNA test, which will probably come up with some stuff you didn't even know. My heritage is very simple yet there was a lot of interesting stuff in there.
I was cracking up at the Filipino, etc part. I’m part Chinese and part European/ white, and I got all my mothers traits (light eyes,lighter skin, but dark hair - think Alexa Chung or Olivia Munn ) My brother got all my dads traits (dark eyes, darker skin, dark hair). The biggest comment I get is “Why are your eyes so small?” I’m very white passing so when I explain I’m mixed, I get the “What, really?!” And then they stare a little bit more and then it’s “Oh!! NOW I see it!” Genetics are such a toss up and what our brains think will happen, most likely will not happen! Great video Greg, this answers my question too! 😊
You have a very good looking family. That’s all it matters hahah! Jk! I really enjoyed this video it’s really interesting how everyone has a different bloodline and how everyone is mixed now. I myself always thought of myself as one thing and then I took my DNA test and it was nothing that I had imagined. But it’s okay. Like you said.. I’m just me. (: Great video!
I'm still interested in taking the DNA test. But it's also interesting that if you go back into my family's history, you have some shady past on all sides. Life a hundred or hundreds of years ago was a bit less civilized.
The DNA test that I took, took about 2 months to get my results. And I did it through ancestry.com. It was very interesting. They even give you a map as to where your bloodline comes from. I suggest you try it. It would make a great video! (: Good Luck!
Please remember that the DNA test we currently have are pretty much only for 'entertainment' purposes. They are not comparable to a genetic sequence profile in any way as each individual companies dataset is comprised only of their own clientele rather than a complete population profile. While they can be fun to do, don't take what they tell you to the bank. They will likely be better someday in the future after there is more comprehensive testing done of entire populations and if databases are then combined, but for now they're mainly just for fun.
Hi Greg, fascinating video and topic. You're a truly beautiful family, with a rich heritage, who makes you who you are. I was born in Switzerland, grew up in Italy, and I've been living in London, England, for the past 27 years. When people ask me, which State I feel I belong to, I always reply, "I'm a citizen of the world". Your lovely brother, couldn't define himself as for a "race", well, I would suggest "human race" just like myself, and everyone else on this beautiful planet hearth. Love from a lady who doesn't like labels! 😀 ❤
I first saw your face on the "homeless" video. My first reaction was "DAMN!!! This guy's cute!! Where do I sign up?!" My second was to assume you were Okinawan, or half-Okinawan, maybe a child of an American serviceman who married an Okinawan woman he met off-base. You could also pass as Ainu, but I doubt there are many pure Ainus who speak such fluent English. I wonder if you ever got these kind of reactions. I've lived in Japan 45 years, still unable to get permanent residence (US citizen), but my life is in many ways Japanese up to the point that I'm sure I could never survive if I had to go back the the US. You can contact me if you'd like to hear my story, very unorthodox one at that, of the last 45 years of my life.
I enjoyed that video very much!! Thank you for introducing all your brothers to us. And thank you and them for their honest answers to the interesting questions. And I am very interested in your documentary "Being Japanese". I am African American and am married to a Man who is mixed Japanese and Korean. We now have two children 3 and 0 years old. So I'm interested in hearing your experience and opinions about "being Japanese." Because it is quite different as you said, from being American or Canadian. Anyway, I'm looking forward to it!! Cheers!!
It's interesting to also look at the way in which the question is posed. Namely, asking somebody where they are from does not (to my mind) actually ask about one's ethnicity. And this looks to definitely apply to you guys. It's particularly interesting to observe this phenomenon across North America where backgrounds are inherently incredibly mixed. On a similar note, it sometimes also feels like an unfair question because us white people don't get this. I'm an example of this I like in the UK, but am from another European country, but when people ask me where I am from, the expectation is for me to say which UK city or county I was born in.
It's precious to see you and your brothers stay closed to each other even though you all looks different from each other. I felt so isolated when my family told me I looked different from they as a kid. It kind of affected me in some way. I feel like I'm not one of them. But luckily enough I have a great mum.
Only a day left until my documentary campaign for "Being Japanese" officially ends on Indiegogo! igg.me/at/lwif-being-japanese-documentary/x
keep up the good work
Life Where I'm From thank you! I only ask because I'm on a similar path finding who I am. I am Puerto Rican and Antiguan but I want to know more. Love your channel and I pray for the opportunity to see Japan in person!
Whenever asked what are you, just put sunglasses on and say "The Future" CSI Miami style !
"Who am I?"
Me: You r gr-egg
2020 release! just in time for the Olympics. Best of luck but more importantly - have fun doing so~
Oh, a big shout out to my bros! They all agreed to be interviewed with no notice. I filmed them all in a single day. Love you guys!
May I ask, why does your oldest brother have an Aussie accent? Fascinating video as always :)
I have no clue. He has never been to Australia.
How do you guys keep so close while growing up? Also, all boys?!?! Lol
would love to see your parents too !!
Thanks to all your brothers! This video was pretty interesting!
wait ... so now that you’re married to a full japanese woman, your kids literally have japanese, chinese, scottish, mayan, portuguese, spanish _and_ native american?? dang.
edit: sorry! i’ve come to realize mayans are native americans, thank u to everyone in the comments that pointed this out, 😓
First off, let's get one thing straight, Mayans ARE Native Americans. Native American isn't an ethnicity, it'a a pseudo racial term which could apply to any of the various indigenous ethnicities of the Americas. Secondly, the so-called Native Americans are genetically the same as Mongoloid aka East Asians. So at the end of the day he's really only part White and part Asian.
Lol “full Japanese”.
I’ll be really happy when all these ideas about race and ethnicity and measures of them, get left behind and we see them for what they are ; cultural fictions.
None of it means anything.
His children are beautiful
I have native, Chinese/korean, African, Spanish, Italian, Jewish, Greek, Arab ...and I'm forgetting something I bet.
Why is Mayan and Native American differentiated? Weren't Mayans Native Americans?
AMAZING how different all you look
Kombinatsiya I think it's so amazing how different and similar they look at the same time. If you look at their whole faces they look different but they all have similar features.
Yeah, if I had bumped into all of them on the street, I wouldn't think they were related at all. It seems like in each of them, a different part of their mix comes out more than the other parts. I had always thought Greg had Middle Eastern heritage!
I can't remember where I read or saw it recently because i read a lot of articles and watch documentaries, but you could be a percentage of a certain ethnicity and your sibling has a different combination. It's really interesting and something I'd never thought of before.
it really is ! siblings can inherit different traits and different amounts of a certain ethnicity from the parents. for example my siblings and i are mixed and i happen to look more asian than my siblings, they however look mixed. people say i look asian and white or just asian, and my siblings black & white / hispanic. it’s really cool how different mixed families can look.
@@AnomieTrain i thought he was indian
im 100% filipino and if i saw u in person without knowing ur channel i would say ur half filipino haha only because u have a full beard and that's not common for us along with your eyes and just facial structure but anyways this video was super cool to watch def loved it i wish i was also mixed :D
If you get a DNA test, You will find that you are not "100% Filipino". A result of hundreds of years of colonisation .
@@aliasmarg8ta127 "Filipino" itself is a very broad term. Most Filipinos in the north look more East Asian, the south look more Polynesian, but most are generally a mix.
And then there's my 100% "pure" Filipino DNA with German, Norwegian, Siberian, Japanese traces..
Def give 23andme a try!
I also thought he is filipino because he looks like one. Maybe its because of the asian- spanish mix
The oldest looks Filipino, also the original whitest one. lol
I'm half Japanese Filipino even then i had german spanish chinese on my Filipino side. 48% Japanese 12%Spanish 10% german 20%(malay,indonesian,taiwan,Filipino native) 8% chinese 2% others most likely Japanese as well but native Japanese i dunno the specific term. My grandpa fought for the empire of Japan my grandpa on my mother side was german American descent half meztiso(mixed Filipino and Spanish) fought for the allies during war.
You and your brothers are really nice.
Definitely Canadian 💯%
I love Japan. I wish it wasn't such a long flight away from Canada.
Are they step Brothers?
I am very proud to be Canadian and to have had the privilege of living in such a safe, tolerant, and vibrant country for all my life. It's very hard for me to imagine ever living in another country but I think I should definitely try doing so at one point in my life to gain new experiences. That being said, as an avid viewer of your videos I've also always wondered what your ethnic background is time and time again and I'm really glad that you created this video explaining that by including the point of views of all your siblings. I cannot express in words how relevant this video is to me personally. I just can't believe how similar our ethnic backgrounds are. I, myself, was born in Ontario, Canada but my parents are both natives of Guyana; my mother is half Chinese (paternally) and half Amerindian (maternally, Indigenous peoples of South America) and my father is half Portuguese (maternally) and half Brazilian/Mixed (paternally). Similarly, I cannot count how many times I've been asked what my background is and I would say about 80% of the time I'm mistaken for Filipino and the remaining 20% Mexican. All in all, I absolutely enjoy your videos because they are informative (well-researched/structured), inspirational, and interactive.
I have an obsession with Japanese culture, history, and cuisine and I plan on making it my next vacation destination. In essence, what I would like you to know is that your videos are very precious to me because I feel as though I'm "living" my dream life through them (I don't want to sound weird but I'm not exactly sure how else to phrase it). To end my long tangent, I wish you all the best with your first feature-length documentary: "Being Japanese."
very nice comment
Thank you for sharing! 🇨🇦🇬🇾💞
@huckleberryfinn01 That was very informative - thanks. Knowing very little about the history I was thinking of Filipinos as being Asian/Pacific Islanders but of course there was the Spanish colonial period which I know little of. And some Chinese related history apparently. The anti-Spanish rebellion (?) leader there in the Spanish-American War period or thereabouts was Japanese.
Your last name doesn’t fool anyone 🇵🇹
I don't know if I made this video well or not. Obviously the production quality of footage isn't the greatest. Some boomy audio and frozen and stuttering video. I was trying to kill a few birds with a single stone. One was that people always ask my background/ethnicity/race on RUclips, so if they actually are interested, this is about as complete as an answer as I can give. Although really, I could have thrown up the pie chart at the beginning of the video and most would have been satisfied. People also ask me why I'm making a documentary. Growing up as Canadian and growing up Japanese are very different in my mind. Same as becoming Japanese vs. becoming Canadian. Many will say you can't become Japanese. If that's their opinion, fair enough, I won't be trying to beat some globalism agenda over their heads. For the stories of people, I'm more interested in the smaller scale, what it's like to be them. To give context to people's stories, I will be delving a bit into the past, mainly focusing on the present, and then look out towards the future. People ask what my bias is, and depending on how you view it, I think this video kind of shows it. Having an identity is important. If I couldn't say I was Canadian (and I'm a proud one), I'd be very distraught. I love being a Canadian and feel very lucky to be one. I don't really understand the prerogative that some have about including and excluding people out of their identities, or out of multiple one's. I think in the end we're all humans. I also think you can be many things at the same time: a baseball player, a musician, a mechanic, and a husband. You can also be part of multiple ethnic groups, and maybe instead of them being all separate parts, it's just additional things that you are. Solid wall of text accomplished, I'm out of here.
I came to this channel for the videos on housing in Japan and now I am watching a video on ethnicity. Nearly 700K subscribers and still growing. You have a very personable nature and interesting subject matter that keeps everyone coming back. So keep up the good work!
Good video. Definitely re: identity. It hurts me when other people say that I'm not who I am even after I've told them. It's exhausting explaining each time with them seeing only my skin rather than character/personality/interests, but it's also exhausting backing myself up each time. I'm British and nobody can take that away from me. I am who I am.
And yes, it's much more interesting to see where we're going.
You did great. More charming than if it was all perfect. 😊
I have a lot of respect for you ! It's admirable how you defend your right to define your own identity. Thanks for Sharing!
Who cares about the quality of the video (image) when the content is so great? I really enjoyed it, thanks for sharing!
Guys, that was so interesting! I am Brazilian but my background is also a whole new story. My father is fully Japanese, but my mom is Paraguayan with Kurdish, Syrian and Spanish background. I have 2 older brothers and we all look different from each other. People don’t usually think my 2nd oldest brother is half Japanese at all because he looks like my mom, and my older brother looks like he is full Japanese (he also lives in Japan). In my case, sometimes people think I’m full Japanese because I’m the fairest one, even though I look like my mom. But if you ask any of us, we will always say that we are Brazilians, and that is it. Our background is part of our life, but you can’t define people just because of that. I truly understand what you guys feel about it. Thank you for the excellent video!
I have japanese background from both sides. My grandparents from my father side were born in 1890, lol. But I was born and raised in Brazil, which is a really mixture pot. My cousin is half japanese and half italian + portuguese. The other cousin is half japanese and half turkish. I have a friend that has a portuguese last name, but he think he has spanish, portuguese and angolan plus native indian background. I find it so amusing.
Heyo Brazilian over here too
br here too, portuguese, spanish, italian, african and american indigenous blood.
Kurmançi di zani?
In Latin America we first and lastly identify with each of our nationalities, I mean, mestizaje is just the norm so I guess we don't mind much about that
The most important fact is the we are all human and everyone is uniquely one ! other things doesn't really matter that much !!
佐々木裕人 sure we're probably chill about it atm but nobody knows how long that will hold true, as far as what history have taught us
佐々木裕人 beautifully put 💝
0:57 “...Oh you know I actually have a pie chart aboot that!” Only the Canadians, man
I can really identify with this video :) I'm full Chinese, both my parents immigrated from China to the US before I was born, but I think I identify more as an American than anything else. I guess the gray area doesn't really seem that gray for me (since I'm not mixed in any capacity), but while I've been studying abroad in China, I've found it harder and harder to answer the question, "what are you?". Sure I look Chinese and I speak a Mandarin well enough, but my experience is vastly different from any Chinese person I've met in the past year. When people assume I'm a native, I get caught in these weird situations where I get misunderstood for doing things the way I do. None of my relatives consider me Chinese, and I don't think I have any authority to speak for Chinese people or represent their experience. Instead, I think the most accurate description I have for myself is "Chinese American" or just "American".
We are second-generation "immigrants"/Americans, and many people like us have this divided feeling you described. I have a similar background to yours but have Mexican parents. I would call myself Mexican-American, not solely Mexican or American.
I think it's wonderful that neither you or your brothers ever felt outward discrimination. I live in Western New York and my daughter, half Western European and half Arab, will tell kids in her school she is Puerto Rican. She does this because, when she was 6, she lost a few friends when she said her father was from Iraq. One boy actually told her, "we can't be friends anymore, we hate your people." It's heartbreaking. Being near the Canadian border and visiting often, I find Canada embraces diversity far better than the US.
yvonne wyder what in the hell??? 6 year olds say that? In 2018? That’s so sad, your daughter deserves to be around people who are more accepting that that kid :/ it’s sad to think that the other kid’s parents brainwashed him into basically being racist
Yvie Sunshine They weren't even friends in the first place, if thats how they behave.
So you’re from buffalo? Bc i am too and it’s very racist there
@Ai Ba Exactly. They are individuals but also clones of their parents.
Racism is taught and learned by family, peers, society.
Greg, all this time I thought you were Filipino, or at least part.
Well, if you think about it, with a mixture of Spanish, Chinese, and British blood, that's not too different from Filipinos.
True. My mom is Filipino, from the Philippines, but she has a mixture of Chinese and Spanish. My dad was born in Hawaii and is ethnically part Filipino, with a hint of Chinese through the Filipino side, and part British (specifically Scottish). What a small world.
Life Where I'm From I thought so too haha. But then again, we can think of it as two different dishes are the same since they have the same ingredients. Hahaha
Love your videos :)))
That's what I thought before too, that he could be Filipino... Judging by the Filipinos I've met, he could blend in easily.
I'm full Filipino
I sure love how articulate you and your brothers are. Things are explained clearly.
True! Especially that TIME magazine and podcast mentioned by one of the brothers, very interesting.
Extremely enlightening video!! I truly enjoyed this, and being a half-Japanese and caucasian person I found this video very relatable. I feel similar to your second eldest brother, because like him, I look very white compared to my two siblings that look very Asian. My mother is full Japanese, and my dad is part Scottish, Spanish, Iberian, Armenian, Native, etc. I look different from my siblings but feel very Japanese even though many people mistaken me as being Mexican or Filipino. Anyways thanks for the great video Greg !!
sdluke ditto. My moms full Japanese, my dad is Canadian - Ukrainian, English etc
My mom is Japanese and my dad is Finnish and German, but people guess that I'm Filipino all of the time as well.
Great piece... As a Native Hawaiian, Filipino, Chinese, Portuguese- I identify as Hapa. In Hawaii we refer to mixed race as Hapa.
I let out a chuckle when he said "There's a large Filipino population in Winnipeg" Because that's such an understatement lol
Very interesting background! I'm a teacher in Japan and when I explain my Euro-mutt background (Dominant English, Scottish and some Austrian) my students are always amazed at how unique I must be. But I tell them that when it comes to Canadians, my background is very unremarkable and that we all have a story of where our ancestors came from and when they mixed.
Your interviews with your brothers show that even with Canada's very mixed population, it tends to be those who have more visibly non-Anglo Saxon, or just "darker," features that get asked about their background. A few of my Canadian friends who belong to visible minorities and have more recent immigrant roots, have told me stories that they sometimes get mistaken as foreign by other Canadians. For example, Visible Minority Friend says "I'm heading home for a few months," referring to their parents house in a different Canadian city, maybe an hour away. Anglo Saxon Friend "What?? You are going back to *Parent's/Grandparent's Home Country*??"
Canada is home to people of so many different backgrounds, and while I think in general it is a very accepting place I think we need to remind ourselves that physical features/ethnicity are not indicators or hints at one's nationality. This is something I always try to teach my students when they ask "Where are you from?"
That's so cool! I'm from Winnipeg, and I've never felt discriminated. You're right, there is a huge Filipino community!
5 brothers and they are so different 😱
Brother #5 is only their half biological brother.
I love your videos! Made me really happy to see this and find out you're Guyanese! I am a Sicilian and Indo-Guyanese uni student in the United States hoping to ultimately write a thesis on Guyanese/Caribbean GSFS content. I would love to hear more about your experience as a Guyanese. The Chinese Guyanese narrative is not commonly spoken about but so crucial to share as we decolonise oursleves! Thank you for this!
I'm Hispanic,Irish, Blackfoot Indian and Scottish. My family and I went to the Japan pavilion at Disney World and all of the people that worked there kept asking me if I was Japanese and if i was sure that i wasn't Japanese! Lol! They were surprised when I told them that I was Hispanic and everything. We had a good talk. 😊❤
Same happened to me ! I'm French, Corean, American (English and Dutch mostly) and Czech. In France, where I live, many people thought, the first time they met me, that I was at least half Arab or half Turk. And a majority of those who thought this were from these ethnicies.
a nice mix you have there Heather .... myself i'm Scottish
Heather Byerly when I went to Chinatown During visited Singapore,, some people speak Chinese when they saw me but… Yep
Heather Byerly it
Don’t lie, you wouldn’t have looked japanese
I want to personally thank you for putting out this video, and for all the work you do in all your videos. I came across them by chance while looking for better content to show my children. We are an American family that identifies as mixed Asian-White, but as your video points out so well, these kind of labels don't begin to cover the real history and experience of ethnicity and nationality. Growing up in the predominantly white state of Oregon as a Chinese, Japanese, Filipina (and slightly English & Dutch lol) kid, I experienced countless instances of casual racism throughout the 80's and 90's. Yet, like your brother mentioned, we had no strong ties to any of these backgrounds - my father grew up in Hawaii, and my mother had emigrated from Japan at a very young age. My mother is Japanese-Filipina but she grew up in a rural white religious community. My father is Chinese but born and raised in Honolulu and culturally far removed from the old country - he still rocks his cowboy hat and he used to collect Civil War memorabilia for some reason - raised us on Star Wars, Bruce Lee and Clint Eastwood movies lol. I have definitely felt the pangs of "not enough of anything" in my life and often become excited when I meet another person who I think is Filipino, etc (your brother's story on that cracked me up). My husband, on the other hand, is a Euro mutt mix including Swedish, Finnish, Scottish, Jewish and more, and we often have discussions about how he's never been asked "where are you from"... "what are you?"... etc. He does get people thinking he's Russian come up to him at work and begin speaking, so I've told him why not just learn Russian? :) I've had people assume I'm Vietnamese, Korean, and more - and sometimes it's the excited "Oh, I'm this, are you this too??" but just as often it's been some caucasian guy saying "You couldn't be Japanese with legs like that," or "You're Korean, aren't you? I can always tell." The rudeness and entitlement some people exhibit when it comes to inquiring about background astounds me. The persistence of racism in America is a thing, and as a mother of two boys I worry about how they'll be perceived and treated. Our oldest son is much darker in hair and skin tone, while the younger is very fair and might barely end up looking Asian at all. I already have noticed a difference in how people react to them and treat them. Your whole family is gorgeous and we appreciate your brothers sharing their stories so candidly. All the vignettes were SO relatable. I really adore the kindhearted humor you all brought to this video. The internet can be a very harsh place and I'm not surprised at some of the gross and presumptive comments you've received. Please know that your work is very inspiring and deeply appreciated. All the information about Japan has us thinking about how we could attempt to make the move ourselves, lol (my mother's side roots come from Fukuoka, but we have completely lost touch)... and we also especially enjoyed the Homeless series - my 8 yr old watched it all the way through with me as it's an issue he cares a lot about. Thanks again & best regards.
I'm an American of German/Irish ancestry and when I go to the Russian store in my Brooklyn neighborhood the cashier will first talk to me in Russian! One cashier looks very Asian and spoke to me in Russian. I had a chance to talk to her and she is from Kazakhstan, a former Soviet Republic which stretches from China to Russia, almost to the Ukraine.
We are all just humans but I find this origin and different cultures thing very interesting.
The way you guys all talk is 100% so Canadian😆👍🏼 source: is Canadian😂
Wow! Thanks so much for sharing you and your family’s story! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
You guys all look different wow. So basically you’re what the world would look like in the future where all ethnicities are mixed and there would be no longer different singular ethnicities lol
Exactly. We all are simply HUMANS.
@@43pups43 humans yes but with different races
@@savedemperor8024 There are no "races", they are man made. Genetically we are all the same. Some people just made up "races", but you could define anything as a race: all red-haired people, all green-eyed people etc. There are no races.
@@43pups43 yes they are races you can deny that but it doesn't change a thing
That future you're thinking of is like year 10,000 maybe. Over 90% of the population in Asia, Europe, Africa still marry people who are the same race.
It's so cool that you decided to share this with us, when you didn't have to! Thank you very much! It's awesome to see the mix of ethnicities and it was fun to know that people from different ethnicities think you're the same ethnicity as them. I feel the struggle, because even though I'm "full Spanish", people think I'm Asian or at least part Asian...
I just discovered your channel and am so grateful that I did! Thank you for posting this video. I am Canadian born Chinese (although I don't look very 'Chinese') and have always struggled with having this 'dual identity', while constantly being asked: "what are you?" It's so nice to hear that others like you and your family can relate to me as well.
Thank you for exploring the subject of race and ethnicity in a positive and endearing manner. I think ethnicity and identity can be closely linked and important to people in a positive way.
I think knowing where you came from is an important facet of who we are. But I think in non-homogeneous countries like Canada it's more open and accepting (comparatively). But places like Japan aren't as diverse and open and will still see you as a foreigner or "not really" Japanese. Look at how many (not all) treated Ariana Miyamoto.
And then we have counties like The US, that like to claim diversity but it's not really and racism is very rampant. And still apply outdated and backwards identifiers like the "one-drop rule". And that then causes people to feel like they have to choose. I have lots of half black and white friends that say they're too dark to be "white" and too light to be "dark" (unless they can pass for white). A lot of them tend to lean towards the black side but then there's the sigma of colourism in the black community and that opens up a whole other problem. You have the caste system in Indian culture and other Asian cultures where the darker the person the less attractive or poor.
I think the only time race shouldn't matter is when people use that knowledge or what you are to look at you as less than. I love looking into what "I am" and learning about the culture. It makes me feel closer to the world as a whole, because 99% none of us aren't just one thing (unless you're from a long line of inbreeding, lol). And the more we look into our family history the more we see we're all just flesh and bones.
You reminded me of the old joke about a New England fishing village. A family, husband, wife and a month old baby boy move to the village. The baby grows first into boyhood, then into manhood, marries and lives in the village never leaving it until he passes at the age of 97. At the funeral, the pastor begins his eulogy saying, "God, please bless this stranger to our shores..."
Very fascinating and fun! I loved hearing your brothers' different experiences and thoughts, and seeing what your brothers all looked like. Great family interactions. And I agree that in the end, who we are / have become and where we are going / who we will be is what matters. Thanks!
Fascinating. I had wondered (just in passing, not obsessively!) what your background might be, and had guessed there might be some indigenous element. It's healthy I think that you all seem to have a 'so what?' attitude, and I'm pleased to hear that you didn't suffer any undue discrimination.
"A little bit of everything and a little bit of nothing. You're that but you don't belong there because you're never enough of that category."
THIS IS TOO TRUE. I only have two sides to my Asian genetics as a whole and neither community accepts me as their own. One for not looking like them and the other for not knowing their language.
Good video! And congrats on your documentary meeting its goal! I did my best to support you.
Wonderful video! Interesting topic. I was born and raised in P.R. and moved to the U.S. as a teen. After living here for 30yrs. I feel more "American" compared to my Puertorrican friends and family. My American spouse is Portuguese as far as DNA but knows nothing of Portugal. Strangers often think he is hispanic. And finally, our children were adopted from China. Talk about a melting pot!
Fascinating!! You and your brothers all look so different. The bro with the red shirt looks more Scottish. And the first one you showed looks more Mayan/Native American. And you look more Chinese/Native American (called it lol) what an interesting family mix y'all are! 😎
This is a beautiful video. I love how you and your brothers are still so connected and close, even though you live far apart from each other. And the conclusion is amazing! Great work!
Your family is very unique. Thank you for sharing! Despite the complexities that may have came your way while growing up, you all grew up to be very cool individuals. Cheers from Canada! :)
This was fascinating! I always love researching into my heritage (which is all European) so it was fun to learn about yours and learning about your brothers as well! Thank you for taking the time, Greg. :)
This is so well done! Made me smile throughout. Exploring family history is so fun!
You know, I love your family .. And now m so happy to see all the positive attitudes of you and your brothers... Few of those questions or incidents would have offended me.. but still all of you are so fun.. This amazes me. And you have such a calm and happy personality..God bless you and your family.. Love from India..
Thank you! Finally, been wondering about your background.
This was a really interesting way to answer a common question. Thanks for the video!
This is so cool and interesting to see! And being able to share your ancestry with your children is an awesome gift.
I love all your videos. Everything you tackle is so thoughtfully done and with sincerity. It was so nice to meet your brothers and learn more about the man behind the camera. 💜
Our family ancestry/identity is mixed as well. We are West Indian. Me saying that means we are a mixed bag of people. My mother's side is Guyanese (British and as yet, unidentified African roots). My father's side is Trinidadian/Bajan (my grandfather was East Indian and my father's grandmother was Spanish Venezuela). My family are all shades of the rainbow! How can you say who you are when you are so many??? When I am in Europe I say I'm Caribbean. When I am in Asia I say West Indian. I was born in NJ. When I'm back in the US people don't think I'm American. It is fun to keep people guessing. Thank you so much for this video!
Wow we have a very similar background. My mother's side is Guyanese as well (African with some East Indian) and my father's side is Trinidadian. Also, I was born and raised in New Jersey. I'm not really all that mixed tho (most of my background is African). Also this really was a great video!
Haha, Ill bet your family has some really good cooking when you get together
Loved the video! Love the channels! And love the stories! Keep up the great work! The old family photos were a hilarious heart warming touch. Can’t wait for the next video!
“Are you Filipino?” Exactly my thoughts the first time I saw you in your vids lol. Tbh it doesn’t matter. The content of your videos is what’s interesting 👍👍👍
I love how patient and relaxed you are with 'getting to the point' in this video and most of your videos. You always follow nice and clear steps towards your conclusions but don't shout about it, nor put down markers to let everyone know that this is going somewhere. In a lot of ways your videos are like listening to a friend who's a very rational thinker explain their stories: You can trust that they have a point and that every bit will matter. I think it's fantastic and I look forward to your film! Best wishes to your families and be sure to thank them for sharing with us a little bit of Canadian wisdom.
We are all earthlings!
@@unclephil4112 well,dogs arnt human.
We should call ourselves Earthian.
No. I'm a Saiyan.
Great video showing lots of perspective. I'm half Chinese, where my Chinese side comes from Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago too! Explaining the history behind the Chinese servitude is always an interesting conversation when someone asks about my ethnicity. Keep up the great videos!!
It's well past time to stop thinking of race as the answer to "who am I?" It's interesting to know where our ancestors came from, and the challenges they faced. It's fun to see a child that looks very much like a parent, and to see interesting features that we just can't pin down. But that is not who we are. Ultimately, who we are is up to us individually. If it seems wrong for someone to say, "you don't belong here because you're the wrong race", then don't look for self-identity there. Is there such a thing as "race"? I don't think so. It's just latching onto arbitrary characteristics. It doesn't make any more sense than saying, "I have attached/detached earlobes - that's who I am."
WOOT, Winnipeg! I am also Filipino (and thought that your eldest brother was too!), and I'll still invite him to meet my family. :) It's very interesting to see how different you all look, but the love you have for each other is so very visible!
Depending on how far back you go, we are all mutts.
Yeah, we're all mixed up.
rockshot100 à
True
When I was a teen ppl would call me mutt with a mean look, I'd say what did I do!!??
false.
I got too hype finding out you’re Guyanese (among the rest)! I’m always super excited to see the diversity of the people of Guyana and their families!
I AM BELIZEAN TOO!!! Miss Queen of The Bay New York 2011-12! I think it’s really funny because I feel that Children of Belizean immigrants all struggle to explain what their ethnicity is because our country has such a unique history and incredibly mixed culture for such a tiny country. When I was growing up, I never knew how to answer, and when I’d visit family in Belize I would ask them as well, and could never get a straight answer. I honestly still don’t know how to answer, just to make it easier for other people without giving them a history lesson, I just say I am “Black”. No one will ever be happy with what you tell them lol. Also, only in America and European countries does it seem like it matter. Belize is such a weird country because Other Caribbean islands don’t consider us Caribbean, and our neighboring spanish countries don’t like to claim us either, it’s very strange. Honestly, because we are such a tiny country, everyone is most likely related in some way shape or form, so you might just be a cousin, you honestly look so much like my dad it’s scary and your brothers look like they could be my uncles! Love your videos ❤️❤️❤️ and please teach your children more about Belizean culture because it’s so beautiful, from our food, to the way we speak kriol! It’s incredible!
Belizean here too. Cool!
Me too Belizean! We are such a small country get so excited when I see other Belizeans.
The interaction between you and your brothers alongside those family photos of you guys together is so endearing and heart-warming. Thanks for sharing.
All of the hateful race-based comments I see on your videos reek of projection.
I can't honestly imagine any reason why someone would insult your sense of identity other than the fact that they're struggling with their own.
Can't say it better myself ;3
So perfect. Everything doesn't have to fit into a tiny box because then you start to make assumptions about someone without even knowing them. While it's interesting to know someone's ethnicity, I say treat the person as the person instead of their race/ethnicity.
I'm very happy to have watched this presentation. I'd say you are all pretty remarkable individuals. Watching you parse out the issues raised here is very enlightening, and I agree that we are all headed toward a world where "what" we are is determined less by our genetics and more by the choices and goals each of us pursue in life. Personally, I'm a "white" (Italian and Scottish) guy raised in NorCal and am really grateful that I grew up in a culturally diverse place on the west cost of North America. Thank you for an interesting exploration into a very salient topic.
I love this video. Awesome and honest discussion about race and ethnicity!
loved this video! it's cool how you included all your brothers to give their insight :D
Cute video. I did my genetic test and got the biggest laugh - seeing in black and white the words 50/50. Hahaha! 50% northern european (mostly British), and 50% east asian (mostly Korean). Our nieces and nephews are more mixed - my siblings married Algerian-French, Jewish, Africa-American and Korean spouses. The melting pot indeed!
Fantastic video Greg! One of the best among your excellent job! Thanks for sharing and thank to your brothers as well.
I used to live in Alaska, and Greg & his bros look like a lot of the Haida and Tlingit I knew from Southeast Alaska. I always figured he was from a native group like that. (Aboriginal and indigenous aren't terms that are used often here in the US.)
Greg, thank you! I just really enjoy your videos! This one about your siblings was amazing. I now see why you are "who" you are! You're and amazing man Greg.
Again thank you.
BTW....have you ever thought about doing a video about how the Japanese care for their dead? Just curious. Many years ago, when my DH was in the US Army, he was stationed in Germany, in a very small base near Frankfurt. I was amazed at the way the German cemeteries were....Each week-end people went to the cemetery to care for their loved ones graves. The headstones were gorgeous.
Many of you looks more like mixed latino, and one of your brother looks like mixed african
I really love the way of your videos.. Or specifically the way you deliver it or the quality of content.. You say everything with a smiling face, friendliness.. It's more like I can feel warmth of your videos.. It's like a warm welcome when we enter someone's home.. Even in this video there are actually many places where you could feel sensitive or kind of disappointed (in others by the way they ask).. I mean not many people would be comfortable opening themselves up.. But you always took everything as if "It's ok.. Doesn't matter to me".. That spreads so much of positive vibes, at least for me as a viewer personally.. And you even opened up a honest video not only yourself but also with your brothers.. I admire how you take things warmly a lot.. That smiling face and not much worried expression. I am a foreigner living abroad, where I am always insecure of myself thinking may be I don't belong here, may be people see me different.. I know I am just prejudicing myself. But I couldn't help, which made me a total introvert 😞
Appreciate your way of delivering the content with warmth and friendliness. Thanks for your videos including your kids and brothers 💚
Go Canada! I love finding out where people are from, and feel this reflects Canada and hopefully the future of the world. One nation with a history based in many
I love your video's and it is extremely well thought. That's why I always pause my adblock everytime I watch on of your videos. Keep it up!
This reminds me of a comment I heard once from a mixed white and Asian person which was sometimes he felt like he belonged everywhere and nowhere at the same time. edit: should of finished the video but you're brother also mentioned that same phrase haha 15:57
This was really fun to watch! I think you guys had a great, thoughtful conversation. It was nice seeing another side of you and your family! As always, thanks for the great and thoughtful content!
Just get 23andme to sponsor a video and get a genetics test
And then have your entire genetic code on file in some stranger's database forever. Always check the small print before sending your DNA for analysis, and make sure what you get back is worth what you're giving them.
I think for the most part they KNOW where they are from, where their lineage comes from etc but i think this video focuses more on what they identify as
I identify myself as a cloaked attack spaceship
This!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR USING THE TERMINOLOGY CORRECTLY!!! i might not have grown up on an indigenous community but i feel very deeply for that part of my ancestry and when people say "Native American" who aren't and tell others that "Indian" is such an "un-PC" term to use, i kind of go a little crazy! you've totally go that right though! for those who don't know, the correct term to use now IS "INDIGENOUS!" although i obviously cannot speak for those who grew up in their "nation" or with their own people, for me, knowing the history behind the word "Indian," there is HUGE narrative involved there which includes all of the the pain and horrible treatment up through today that the indigenous peoples of the americas have had to go through and still go through, including horrific human rights violations. with that said, i have always found "Native American" to be slightly more demeaning than "Indian" because although the term was used incorrectly which is how it entered our lexicon in the first place, it carries with it the memory of all the horrors indigenous peoples have had to go through ... so there is more meaning in the word "Indian" than "Native American" (the woman I mention below said the same thing!). WITH ALL OF THAT SAID, the proper term now (which i feel is the best anyway!) is, in fact, INDIGENOUS.
you know what is interesting ... the skin color thing and the hair color thing and having full-siblings who are much darker or lighter than you are is not unusual. my mom is largely lakota but she was adopted (her parents were much older and so her biological half-siblings were all in their 70s and up when we were very young, so there was like a 30-40 year gap between her and her actual siblings, who she didn't even know existed until after my sister and i were born!) and my dad is largely german but he has some cherokee in his family. i actually met an indigenous woman who was from a reservation (outside of the reservation; the context i will not mention for identity protection!) and when she found out that i was as largely indigenous as i was despite being so fair-skinned, i explained to her that my sister is much darker and with much darker hair than mine and she told me that even in full-blooded (or what they think ... it's very hard to know 100% without getting blood tests to test alllll the way back!) indigenous families, it is not at all unusual for one sibling to be fairly light-skinned and even have light brown or dark blonde hair (that is me) and for another to be much darker complexioned and have much darker hair. i thought that was really interesting information!
i love when your brother says that it really doesn't matter what your "ethnicity" is (or "ethnicities" are) but more about what we are going to do and what impact we are going to make going forward. i love that. when we were growing up, we had a very wide range of "ethnicities" in our very small elementary school (we had the usual african-american and caucasian but we also had quite a few kids who were korean or indian or egyptian or peruvian or one of a large number of "ethnicities."). honestly we didn't even realize there was a difference until someone was accused of stealing a pencil and the parent of one kid freaked out that it was a "racist" accusation. we were all very upset because we didn't get it. but i think we have to really return to that mindset because it really doesn't matter where you come from but, again, as your brother said, where we are going. when we focus on the differences we end up with the "race wars" that are going on; we end up with the egregious human rights violations that are going on in china and so much of the rest of the world trying to eradicate ethnic minorities. why?!? why can't we just be people who are looking to be happy and to find our places in life so that we can make the world a better place? as an american, that is a question that i honestly cannot answer because i feel like we're looking increasingly backward at a terrifyingly exponential rate ... and as we have seen, there is no good that can come from that.
thank you for this video! my apologies for the very long comment but this is something about which i have a lot to say, especially having an adopted mother and having had such an incredibly diverse range of friends when i was so young. i think if we could keep that going and not even notice the differences between us but note the QUALITIES of different cultures, we would be living in a much better world.
I like how one of his brothers is talking without his mouth moving.
My boyfriend and I are watching your videos every evening since we discovered the channel. It has been so helpful as we will be going to Japan in May next year. We are getting so many tips from every single video. Thank you for sharing such great content with all of us
I think the reason why people ask if your Mexican, is because of the native side. My father has native roots, he was born in mexico. He also looks native as well haha
Greetings from an Australian I. Philippines. You and your brothers could definitely blend in here without anyone blinking an eye. When you come from an immigrant country I think the where are you from story can be viewed as "what's the story of your family?". Your ancestors have an interesting history of migration and intercultural marriage. Each of those stories make up a small part of who you are and represent the small part of each of those people that you carry within you. Your kids (and mine) have a whole other group of stories from their mothers family, perhaps more centred on one place. Hopefully as parents we can pass on the stories of our ancestors to give them a tie to the past as they take our stories into the future.
really interesting video and it certainly answer most of my question cause i often thought you does have the asian look but i can't makeup what other ethnic mix do you have.
Loved this video Greg! I've been watching your channel for more than a year now and never had a thought about your ethnicity but I identify as Guyanese American (ethnically Indian) and it's always super interesting to examine Guyanese culture because it's such a mixture of cultures and colonial influence. But I agree with you, it doesn't really matter where you're from, it's about where you're going. Thanks for the great content as always!
I’m Chamorro which reefers to the native people of Guam (Guam is an island of the Marianas and larger Micronesia (western pacific) which is currently the most western US territory) my parents, siblings, and I all look different from one another with very slight similarities. I’m “The White one” in my family. lol people always ask me what I am. In Guam most Filipino people would sometimes assume I am Filipino. Though at school I was again the white boy. In the states I have gotten Spanish, Filipino, and once a coworker guessed Chinese/Irish haha. No one ever guesses correctly I guess...
I always thought you are a Filipino too. Good thing, you made this video. It is actually good knowing your real etnicity.
Myself: Scots, Irish, Cherokee, Shoshone, French and German.....that we know of. :)
Hard to NOT be a "mutt", in the US, if you're not a first-generation immigrant.
was an ancestor a cherokee princess
was an ancestor a cherokee princess
It's hard to not be a mutt anywhere in the world these days. Even the so called "homogeneous" countries aren't 100% a certain ethnicity/race. Especially is Asia with China's dominance over the centuries.
Great vid/ Topic! Coming from Vancouver myself, I find there's a lot of curiosity regarding background since the city is such a cutural medley. Ending up in Japan with it's glaring monocuture, I can see why we get asked these questions so frequently as mixed-race children are uncommon still. I do find that there can be a minor prejudice at times in Japan when it comes to uncertainty of your race, however it's usually easily dispelled by a nod/bow of respect to show you understand the culture.
I can also attest to the claim of never feeling like I've been discriminated.
Maybe I have and just didn't see it that way. I don't usually (like ever) think that someone that's being rude to me is because of my race or ethnicity. I just assumed they're jerks and that's it.
We love love love this episode! Being from Hawaii it's a common question amongst everyone. Awesome to hear from your brother's & you.
I think you're just Canadian, eh? p.s. tell your brother in Winnipeg that he could be getting FREE MEALS EVERY DAY if he'd say, Yes, I am Filipino :) (MMMM, Filipino food is so good!)
Great video, little Aiko (not so little anymore) was what made me subscribe and I'm so glad I did. Great family too, well done mum.
Your family is so cute!
I really enjoyed this. We are always asked where we are from and people often guess incorrectly. It was interesting to watch you and your brothers discuss something we've dealt with.
I never actually wondered too much about your race when watching your other videos but your explanation is awesome! I'm also a mut and proud of it. Growing up, I was always asked by classmates "What ARE you?!"and I would usually just shrug because I didn't think it mattered. Now that I'm older, I'm finding my ethnic background to be fascinating, although I still strongly believe that race isn't what defines a person. I've got mostly Apache Navajo on my mom's side and a possibility of some Spanish too. My grandma was a teenager when she had my mom so my mom was adopted by her aunt who was married to an immigrant from Mexico. Since the Navajo tribe came from Japan and still has almost identical culture and language to this day, my mom grew up in a Asian, Native American, Mexican culture. When she was a kid she was often confused as to why she never fit in with the Mexican crowd and why Asian immigrants in her school would try to speak their own languages to her. My dad is mostly Irish with some Korean and Cherokee somewhere in his DNA but he was adopted by a Scottish man and was raised in a Scottish-American culture. So my sister and I grew up in a mix of Asian, Native American, Mexican, and Scottish American cultures, but we aren't Mexican or Scottish. I never really learned anything about our Irish heritage but I'd still like to visit Ireland one day. I definitely have set a goal to visit Japan, the home of my ancestors' ancestors- our not-so-distant relatives- but I'll have to learn Japanese first.
I think you definitely beat me when it comes to having a complex background :-)
"I'm finding my ethnic background to be fascinating, although I still strongly believe that race isn't what defines a person." Yes. But you should definitely do a DNA test, which will probably come up with some stuff you didn't even know. My heritage is very simple yet there was a lot of interesting stuff in there.
I was cracking up at the Filipino, etc part. I’m part Chinese and part European/ white, and I got all my mothers traits (light eyes,lighter skin, but dark hair - think Alexa Chung or Olivia Munn ) My brother got all my dads traits (dark eyes, darker skin, dark hair).
The biggest comment I get is “Why are your eyes so small?” I’m very white passing so when I explain I’m mixed, I get the “What, really?!” And then they stare a little bit more and then it’s “Oh!! NOW I see it!”
Genetics are such a toss up and what our brains think will happen, most likely will not happen! Great video Greg, this answers my question too! 😊
You have a very good looking family. That’s all it matters hahah! Jk! I really enjoyed this video it’s really interesting how everyone has a different bloodline and how everyone is mixed now. I myself always thought of myself as one thing and then I took my DNA test and it was nothing that I had imagined. But it’s okay. Like you said.. I’m just me. (: Great video!
I'm still interested in taking the DNA test. But it's also interesting that if you go back into my family's history, you have some shady past on all sides. Life a hundred or hundreds of years ago was a bit less civilized.
The DNA test that I took, took about 2 months to get my results. And I did it through ancestry.com. It was very interesting. They even give you a map as to where your bloodline comes from. I suggest you try it. It would make a great video! (: Good Luck!
Yeah, that's where my Mum got her DNA testing done.
DNA test are garage .lies
Please remember that the DNA test we currently have are pretty much only for 'entertainment' purposes. They are not comparable to a genetic sequence profile in any way as each individual companies dataset is comprised only of their own clientele rather than a complete population profile. While they can be fun to do, don't take what they tell you to the bank. They will likely be better someday in the future after there is more comprehensive testing done of entire populations and if databases are then combined, but for now they're mainly just for fun.
Hi Greg, fascinating video and topic. You're a truly beautiful family, with a rich heritage, who makes you who you are. I was born in Switzerland, grew up in Italy, and I've been living in London, England, for the past 27 years. When people ask me, which State I feel I belong to, I always reply, "I'm a citizen of the world". Your lovely brother, couldn't define himself as for a "race", well, I would suggest "human race" just like myself, and everyone else on this beautiful planet hearth.
Love from a lady who doesn't like labels! 😀 ❤
I first saw your face on the "homeless" video. My first reaction was "DAMN!!! This guy's cute!! Where do I sign up?!" My second was to assume you were Okinawan, or half-Okinawan, maybe a child of an American serviceman who married an Okinawan woman he met off-base. You could also pass as Ainu, but I doubt there are many pure Ainus who speak such fluent English. I wonder if you ever got these kind of reactions. I've lived in Japan 45 years, still unable to get permanent residence (US citizen), but my life is in many ways Japanese up to the point that I'm sure I could never survive if I had to go back the the US. You can contact me if you'd like to hear my story, very unorthodox one at that, of the last 45 years of my life.
I enjoyed that video very much!! Thank you for introducing all your brothers to us. And thank you and them for their honest answers to the interesting questions.
And I am very interested in your documentary "Being Japanese". I am African American and am married to a Man who is mixed Japanese and Korean. We now have two children 3 and 0 years old. So I'm interested in hearing your experience and opinions about "being Japanese." Because it is quite different as you said, from being American or Canadian.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to it!!
Cheers!!
Your oldest brother is so nerdy, a pie chart..., Hahaha so cute.
It's interesting to also look at the way in which the question is posed. Namely, asking somebody where they are from does not (to my mind) actually ask about one's ethnicity. And this looks to definitely apply to you guys. It's particularly interesting to observe this phenomenon across North America where backgrounds are inherently incredibly mixed.
On a similar note, it sometimes also feels like an unfair question because us white people don't get this. I'm an example of this I like in the UK, but am from another European country, but when people ask me where I am from, the expectation is for me to say which UK city or county I was born in.
They: Where are you from?
Me: New York
They: No, where are you *really* from?
Me: Hands them a pie chart.
It's precious to see you and your brothers stay closed to each other even though you all looks different from each other. I felt so isolated when my family told me I looked different from they as a kid. It kind of affected me in some way. I feel like I'm not one of them. But luckily enough I have a great mum.