What I find interesting about this is my own experience.
I'm a white guy. Prior to moving to Hawaii I lived in predominantly white communities/cultures.
But I was raised well.
So when we moved to Hawaii and I worked closely with local families (Polynesians, Micronesians, Melanesians, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, I can go on, but you get the point) would it be surprising that I connected with them? That I developed relationships with people of very diverse backgrounds?
Would it surprise anybody that when I arrived in the islands and began working as a substance abuse counselor, a local co-worker warned, "I wouldn't go there," referring to a very local enclaves, and Hawaiian homesteads, which may be hostile towards haoles, but I was accepted and even invited?
Only my Okinawan, CRT infused supervisor, told me that my explanation for connecting with local families-humility, respect, and love-was white privilege and I should return to the mainland to work with white people.
Would it surprise anyone that when I arrived in California and was working with incarcerated, gang-entrenched, black and Mexican young men, that a black youth who, upon first seeing me, threw up his arms exclaiming, "Oh, we got a white doc!" would go on to prefer working with me than my black female colleagues who were from the same neighborhood? One black youth gave me a hug, the likes of which I have only experienced from family members.
A Hawaiian colleague and dear friend said to me early in my career when I thought myself of such a different background and too removed from the local experience to be of any service, "Yes, it may be good to have someone from the same culture working with them, but what you bring is a different perspective."