Beth
I want to congratulate you on wanting to expand your network of friends. I believe you can never have enough friends. These people you are working with are working in a poor area, and they are in a minority racial group, but you will find that everyone has a story to tell. There will be people who are tremendously involved in civic clubs, church groups or non-profit charities. There will be people who have family who have stories to tell about things you have never heard about. You say you are privileged, and I assume by that you mean financially, but there are so many other ways to be privileged. By talking with your co-workers and finding out who they are and what makes them tick, you’ll be comfortable enough to be yourself and think of others first.