What's so wrong with racial profiling anyway?

There are those who think that racial profiling is a good thing whether it's at the airport or the border crossing.  They argue that certain groups are just more inherently likely to commit a crime or do something bad.  This is racism in its crudest form.  This is utter prejudice (i.e. pre-judging) with technical precision.  But, the argument goes, it is racism with a reason.  Proponents of this kind of smart racism believe that it is a practical solution to real, life threatening problems like terrorism.  But there are lots of examples of groups who have been singled out because people were afraid of a vast racially based conspiracy.  This kind of fear can be extremely dangerous and should not be tolerated.  A lesson of these perils can be found in the poem by Martin Niemoller about the inactivity of the German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power.