The battle over the TSA's invasive new airport screening techniques has revived debate over another controversial security option: Racial and religious profiling. Conservative critics who feel that "naked scanners" and full-body pat-downs trample the privacy rights of law-abiding travelers say that authorities should focus on Muslims and people from the Middle East who share traits like age and nationality with the profile of many terrorists. Would it be fair — and effective — to subject Muslims to more invasive screening than other passengers? (Watch a CNN discussion about airport profiling)
The time for profiling has come: "Profiling has become a dirty word, synonymous with prejudice, racism, and bigotry," says Asra Q. Nomani at The Daily Beast, but the sad truth is that many terrorists share "one common denominator": Many of them are Muslim. Singling out people with similar backgrounds isn't about racism, but "threat assessment." So, as a Muslim woman, I say, "profile me."
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