self-censorship

I spent my spring break on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. At one point, my group and I were talking about race. The group I was with is all American and white with the exception of me and another girl who is from Egypt. One person asked me how comfortable I was with the fact that as a group, we were most often labeled "white." I honestly had not noticed that much because I'm good at adapting. During our discussion, I explained how I often feel like a racial chameleon. I have learned to adapt my attitude, speech and actions to blend in with the majority race group that I am surrounded by. I think everyone does this to some extent..but should we have to shut down a part of ourselves to be accepted? The general consensus is no. I feel like most people would be reluctant to admit that they do this. But I would argue that if you are not a member of the dominant ideology, then you have to adapt, to self-censorship. Self-censorship can occur when you change your speech or actions depending on a situation, or if you choose to share information with some people but not others.