Though I agree with the notion that racism is wrong, the issue of racial profiling is not as simple as we would want it to be. If we accept that the TSA is an o

Though I agree with the notion that racism is wrong, the issue of racial profiling is not as simple as we would want it to be. If we accept that the TSA is an organization of limited resources, and that any failure to capture a terrorist would have unspeakably terrible consequences, then it would be reasonable to try to optimize our efforts at thwarting terrorism. It is the case that there exist certain profiles that would make a person more predisposed to terrorism (but I'm not claiming that I know what they are, nor do I feel that deciding what those profiles are is a decision to be taken lightly in the least). An equivalent statement would be to say that there are profiles -- such as being very old -- that would make a person less predisposed to acts of terrorism of this sort. So does it not follow that we should attempt to optimize given these conditions? Note that I wholly agree with the objections to constitutional rights being violated in the account presented in the article, and I can understand the stance against any kind of profile. But it cannot be claimed that racial profiling has no good arguments going for it. I personally am not entirely decided on what the appropriate course of action is in this matter; profiling is a more complicated issue than we may like it to be.