Profiling - What rights are actually being violated?

AICS, Thank you so much for the invitation and the kind words. They mean a lot to me (probably more than you know.) And thank you, regular visitors, for the words of invitation (and challenge.) What I have enjoyed so much about this blog is the free flow of ideas that is allowed and encouraged here. It is a pleasure being able to debate issues and even get into heated arguments, and still know that we're all welcome back. It's a lot easier to do it here than at family get-togethers where it seems all too easy to make enemies just talking about politics and religion.

One of AICS's latest posts dealt with the inevitability of profiling and the suggestion that we begin now. Whenever racial profiling comes up in whatever context (terrorism, law enforcement, etc.) people get up in arms about people's rights being in jeopardy. My question is, whose rights are being violated by profiling? Again, we're not talking about rounding people up and throwing them in prison based on their race, as the great hero of the liberal left, Franklin Roosevelt, did during WWII. We're simply talking about taking common sense measures to target a group of people who potentially pose the greatest threat in a given situation. I would appreciate it if someone would point out to me the article in the Constitution that guarantees the right of an individual not to be searched a little more thoroughly at an airport or train terminal based on his profile. If I, a white Christian male, were visiting or lived in a country that was predominantly of different ethnicity, and over the previous ten years or so, many terrorist attacks had been carried out in that country and others by white Christian males, I would expect to be treated with more scrutiny than those who did not match my description. Would my rights be violated in such a situation?

The fact is, profiling takes place all the time, and we don't complain. Young male drivers pay higher insurance premiums than young female drivers because studies have shown that they are involved in more collisions. School teachers are subjected to an FBI background check when they apply for a teaching job, while most people applying for other jobs are not subjected to such a check, because many school teachers have abused their position. Is there anything wrong with this type of profiling? If not, then why is there such an outcry over racial profiling? Profiling, racial or otherwise, should be used in any situation in which one group shows more of a propensity for dangerous behavior than other groups.