Just to return to my point about racial/ethnic profiling...
Profiling, based on myriad factors including ethnicity, is a valid technique to more effectively allocate scarce security resources. It would be stupid to dismiss its validity. Our society...our government...has disavowed the technique, however, because it makes some people feel persecuted. So, there's the tradeoff...personal freedom from persecution vs. enhanced security? For every decision of this nature, there are people who will feel that they're benefitting from it, and others who feel like they're getting the shaft. Nobody wants to be on the "shafted" end, but somebody has to be!
Use profiling, and the innocent people who fit the profile are shafted with inconvenient scrutiny. Disavow profiling, and the effectiveness of the security system is reduced, thereby increasing the danger for all flyers. In this case, I know what I would personally choose, given the magnitude of the competing negative consequences. Our country has chosen the other alternative, though.
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