You did the right thing by not selling yourself out. What you did wasn't necessarily lying, it was conveniently bending the truth to protect yourself from those who would attack you out of ignorance.    They had no right to search your bag though. If that ever happens again you should calmly, but firmly decline, citing your rights to privacy. Don't present yourself as hostile, but do stand up for yourself. The way that most people get caught is because they don't know their rights and think that just because someone in higher power asks them to do something they have to do it or face some sort of consequence. It was wrong of them to search you, and I'm sorry it happened.    This is another reason I'm glad to go to school where I do, because there aren't many blacks (just a bunch of Hispanics). There are a few guys in some of my classes that are openly racist and don't get in trouble for it, though it is frowned upon. People fear racially aware Americans as evil racists or that we're all neo-nazis because of some negative associations between want to preserve their people and senselessly violent youth who have been corrupted and brainwashed. It's a sad thing when someone has to twist the truth about their beliefs to save their school career because their blissfully ignorant higher-ups deem them as a threat. :(