- Do you enjoy curry?
- I'm, I'm not,
I'm not gonna-- - Are you into spices?
Little turmeric?
- Fine, I love curry!
- See, she knows. (all laughing)
(playful orchestral music)
- My name is Sammy.
- My name is Mia.
- [Interviewer] Jasmine, what are you doing here today?
- I'm doing a line-up, I guess, I'm guessing.
- [Interviewer] What are you guessing?
- I have no idea.
- [Interviewer] Today, you're gonna guess
people's ethnicity.
- That's my favorite thing to do.
- Cool. (laughs)
- [Interviewer] You nervous?
- Yes, (laughs) super nervous.
- I feel like I'll be really good at this game
because I'm an Air Force brat, so I lived a lot of places,
and I've interacted with a lot of different cultures
and stuff, so this'll be fun.
- I can smell half Asian from half a mile away, dude.
- [Interviewer] Are you half Asian?
- Yeah, my dad is white, my mom is from China.
- [Interviewer] You ready to do this?
- Sure, as ready as I'll ever be.
- [Interviewer] All right, let's do it.
- I'm ready to get canceled, man.
(all laughing)
(woman laughs) Very good.
(all laughing)
This is the most awkward thing.
- I think Filipino.
Do people guess your ethnicity often?
- Yeah, they try to, and I usually get Filipino.
- Oh, yeah? - Yeah.
- And that's of course wrong.
(all laughing)
- This I know for a fact.
This isn't your normal hair texture.
I can tell that you definitely have a curl pattern
that might be similar to mine.
- You look like this one girl I went to high school with
who was half black, half Saipanese.
- [Interviewer] You have a superpower when it comes to?
- Only with hapa, half white, (woman laughs)
half Asian. - Oh.
- I'll tell you right now,
we don't have one in this line-up.
(participants laughing)
- I'm getting like Blasian vibes.
A lot of the Asians that I know are very, very short.
- What type of Asian?
- Oh, that part, mm. - Mm-hmm.
- You're kinda dark.
Cambodian or maybe Thai. - Okay.
- She is a beautiful black and Korean Blasian.
She has juicy lips,
so I feel like she got that (participants laughing)
from black people. (woman laughing)
- That would be correct.
- Hey. (laughs)
- I'm half Korean, half Kenyan.
- Oh, hell yeah.
Growing up, I wish I was half black, half Asian.
I thought that that was the coolest look.
(participants laughing)
- My brother's half Vietnamese, half Korean.
- Uh-huh. - My little sister's Japanese,
white, and Korean.
So I'm pretty much the only black sheep in my family.
- Was that hard growing up?
- Yeah, I remember many times,
I would be standing in line with my mom,
and they would be like, "Oh, are you guys together?"
- Yeah. - 'Cause they assume
that I'm not a part of them.
- Yeah. - So
it was pretty hard growing up.
- Feeling outside of--
- Yeah.
- When you were really inside.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- You're giving me Middle Eastern-ish.
A lot of Middle Easterns have very thick,
long, luscious hair.
- Mm-hmm.
- How do you prepare your hair every day?
- Put some cream in it.
- Yeah?
- Air dry.
- I got a black friend who's really into cream.
- Okay.
(participants laughing)
- You look very Indian to me.
Do you enjoy curry?
- I'm, I'm not,
I'm not gonna-- - Are you into spices?
Little turmeric?
- Fine, I love curry!
- See, she knows. (all laughing)
'Cause you felt like that was stereotypical
or you felt like that was asking me do I like fried chicken.
But you do, you love you some curry.
- I do. - I know you do, you love it.
- Wanna say like Arabian?
- Muslim.
- Hmm, okay.
- I think maybe black and Hispanic.
The father is the black one.
(participants laughing)
And your mother is Hispanic.
- Wow, okay. - I know how it goes.
- You were right.
I was born in India, but in Kolkata.
So technically, I'm Bengali.
You said I had a black father.
(all laughing)
No, you were right about that.
- Yeah.
- I'm adopted.
- Okay. - So my mother is white
and my father is black.
- Have you ever found or met your--
- No. - Birth parents?
- I don't know anything at all.
- Wow. - Yeah.
The orphanage actually shut down,
so I don't have any information. (laughs)
- Do you want that information,
or do you just like, just can't?
- It would severely change my entire life.
I don't know if I could handle it,
honestly. - Yeah.
Oh, I wouldn't be able to.
- Sammy.
- My name is Jaime.
- Jaime.
Are you German?
(participants laughing)
Is this a German?
- You are tricky.
You're reading white,
but your hair is telling me maybe
with a little bit of black or flavor.
- Do the carpets match the drapes?
(all laughing)
- Yes, they do.
- Are they cute and curly?
(all laughing)
- You look like Logic.
(all laughing)
And Logic is half white and half black,
and nobody thinks he's black,
so he doesn't say the N-word in his raps.
- I feel like you're a black ginger.
- His dad is Jamaican, and his mom might be Scottish
'cause they colonized Jamaica or something.
(participants giggling)
- I am Latino.
My mom's from Mexico, and my dad's from El Salvador.
- Dude!
(all laughing)
I was way wrong.
I gave you black and white.
I'm sorry. (all laughing)
- I get that all the time, though, really.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
- That's kind of offensive, right?
- No, no, I appreciate it.
(participants laughing) - You're just like, cool.
- Hi.
- Hello.
- So you could be half Asian,
but you could also just have bangs.
- I wanna say she has some type
of Middle Eastern background.
- I'm saying Bulgarian.
It's the eyes, and then it's the nose profile.
- How tall is your dad?
- He's probably just a little taller than me.
- Oh, she's Hispanic.
- Oh. (laughs)
- Right?
They have shorter fathers.
(participants laughing) No,
don't include that part. - No, I can't say anything.
(all laughing)
- You're Latina.
That's my guess, I'm going with it, and I'm sticking it.
(boot thuds) - So I am Latina.
- Yeah, but what's the specifics
that I should know? - Yeah, I'm Guatemalan.
- So what do people usually think that you are?
- Usually, I get Indian.
I also get Middle Eastern.
- Do you get Asian?
- I have a little bit.
I feel like bangs are kind of Latino,
right? - Latino?
I think they're
Asian all the way. - Sorta, maybe.
(all laughing)
- Oh, this is tricky.
- [Interviewer] Why you looking at her booty?
- You saw that?
Did you see that? (participants laughing)
Okay.
Big booties run in Somalian, Eritrean culture.
They all have really big butts.
You don't have that big of a butt.
- No.
(all laughing)
- I got a friend who's black,
and you got kind of a similar vibe to her.
How do you feel about lotion?
- Everybody should use lotion.
- Yeah?
I think you're black.
- I wanna say she's black,
but not just black, something else, too.
What type of food do you guys like to eat
in your household growing up?
- We eat a lot of rice,
eggs, SPAM. - Mm, I don't know.
- Lot of noodles.
- Okay, so I feel like she's black and Japanese.
- I'm gonna say Eritrean despite not
having a big booty. (woman laughs)
- My last name will give it away, Nguyen.
So I am Vietnamese American. - (gasps) Dude!
So are you half and half,
or how does that? - Mm-hmm.
Yes, both my parents are actually both half.
- Cool.
So you've got both halves creating another whole half
of a half. - Yup.
- Do you identify with black culture?
- Not as much.
I do identify as Vietnamese American.
- Mm-hmm. - Both my parents,
they were both raised in Vietnam
in the Vietnam War sort of era,
so very much I thought I was Asian the entire time,
and then didn't really get into my American side.
- All right, okay.
- This guy's got the craziest eyes I've ever seen.
Dude, your eyes tell a story.
(all laughing)
- I don't know why, but the word Scandinavian came
in my head when you were approaching.
Tall, is that a feature that Scandinavians have?
- You look like a white dude.
He looks like a white dude, you know?
Like a regular, old, white dude.
(man laughs)
- Just regular, old, American white from the Midwest.
(man laughs)
You've got family lines that run deep in this country.
What are you? - You were part right.
I am white, but I'm also Native American.
- Oh. (man laughs)
Oh, my God. - So yes.
The generations do go all the way back.
- Like all the way (man laughs)
to the very beginning.
- Yeah, yeah.
- What kind of Native American?
- Alaskan Native.
- Okay. - Yeah.
My tribe's called Athabascan.
- White dude that's half Native.
- Quarter.
- Quarter. (man laughs)
- I have one older brother, he's a half-brother,
so he's more Native-looking than I am.
- Okay. - So it's a weird feeling
of yeah, I got white privilege,
and I firsthand see (woman laughs)
how it works
'cause there's my mom (woman laughs)
and my brother, and people are being mean to them.
- Right, literally you'll be right there,
and you can see that difference.
- Yeah.
- Initially, I'm getting some Hispanic.
I've got a Peruvian friend who looks--
- Mm-hmm. - Kinda related to you.
- Can you bachata for me?
- Oh, my gosh.
- One, two, three, hip. (woman laughs)
One, two, three, hip.
She's definitely not Latin.
She's definitely not Latin. (participants laughing)
- Religion.
- Sikh.
- Sikh, oh, that feels very Middle Eastern to me.
I don't know, Afghanistan.
- I am Punjabi.
- Mm-hmm. - Which is a state in India.
- Mm-hmm.
- Do you think being in America
in particular is hard being Punjabi?
- Yeah, people have a lot of stereotypes,
especially after 9/11 happened.
I just remember my brother being called a terrorist.
My uncles, a lot of them had to cut off their beards,
get rid of the turban just so that they cannot be targeted
for what they look like.
Yeah, so. (woman sighs)
That was always interesting.
- Yeah, yeah.
It was really, really awesome to meet you.
Thank you so much. (participants laughing)
I'm sweating.
All right.
Sorry, I just need to breathe. (woman laughs)
- Getting immediate Asian vibes.
- She's part Asian,
but I also don't know what your other part is.
I'm going to just assume white because your eyes.
They're not very Asian eyes.
- What do you mean by Asian eyes?
- They're a little bit like they're not as wide open.
- Yeah. - I'm not trying
to offend anybody. (laughs)
- The skin tone, that suggests some non-mainstream Asian.
You could be Thai 'cause Thai people,
I think, have a slightly darker, more olive skin tone.
- So tell me, what are you?
- My mom is Italian, and my dad is Japanese.
- Oh. - So I'm half and half.
- You're a hapa?
- Yeah.
- Oh, my God. - Half?
- Yeah. (participants laughing)
- Now that you say it--
- Yeah. - I see it.
- Right? (participants laughing)
I was working retail up until really recently,
and a lot of my clients would ask what are you
just on the way out.
- What are you?
- I think it comes from a good place,
which is why I don't have a problem with it.
But it can be kind of othering.
- Yeah. - So yeah.
- I'm Nicole.
- Hey, Jesse.
Nicole is a white name.
- I think she might be Greek because of the hair.
- Curly hair, she could be Jewish.
I think that's an ethnicity.
- She's black and white, a quarter black.
It's probably all in your hair.
- That's-- - The 25% is right here.
- That's where it went.
- You look very Korean to me.
I haven't seen a whole lot of curly hair Koreans,
which makes me feel (woman chuckles)
like she might just be one of those white people
that look Asian like Bjork.
I think you might be Icelandic.
- You're on the right track.
I'm Korean and white.
- Korean and white.
- I'm actually Korean.
- Oh, (laughs) dude. (participants laughing)
I never would've guessed that.
I don't even feel bad for getting that wrong.
- No Korean people I know have hair like this.
So what percentage Korean are you?
- I'm only a quarter Korean.
- Okay, what's the other part?
- Irish, Hungarian.
- Okay, I can see that.
- I always think those people are from the future
if you're just a quarter Asian.
I hope to have a quarter Asian baby someday,
so yeah. - Thanks.
(all laughing)
- [Interviewer] Oh, you look worn out.
- Yes, doing this is like maybe the third layer of hell.
(all laughing)
There's so many different lives
that I don't know anything about
and so much ease that I experience
that I don't even think about.
- [Interviewer] You weren't able to spot hapa
like you thought.
- Yeah, dude, I'm embarrassed.
(participants laughing)
I should've done better, and I'll try harder next time.
And I won't have as much blind confidence.
- [Interviewer] Ethnicity or race,
is it a way to connect with people?
- It is a way.
I am very open.
Grew up in the Philippines.
I speak Tagalog.
But originally, my family is from Louisiana.
I am a Creole.
No one ever assumes that I am what I am.
They always assume that I'm whatever they am
mixed with something else, mixed with black.
And so they're a little bit more open.
And I just, I get along with people pretty well.
I didn't upset nobody? - Ah.
- No. (participants laughing)
- [Interviewer] Thank you, everybody.
- Thanks, you guys. (participants applauding)