The principal at my kids’ elementary school said she’d been made fun of for ‘acting white’ while growing up. And somewhat wistfully noted that some of those who’d teased her were surprised to see her when she showed up as principal at the school where they were on the janitorial staff.
At a former job, there was a pleasant gentleman from Guatemala who was on the janitorial crew. He made it a point to come in my office and speak to me, every single night that I was there. The rest of the crew was from Haiti - they didn't know that I speak a little French - and they relentlessly made fun of him. "Suck-up", approximately, would be the censored version.
One night, I asked - not that I didn't enjoy speaking with him, but, why did he want to talk with me so much? Especially with all of the static that he got from his co-workers?
He said that the only way that he could move up was by improving his English, and that would only happen by practicing.
After 18 months or so, as he desired, he was promoted to running his own cleaning crew. The rest of Haitian bunch? They were all still there when I left.
If that's not a plain illustration of cultural differences, I'm not sure what is.