Based on my experience as a white Englishman with an American kinda name. It's not all about race and/or religion - it's just the way it's always been.
That said, there are much nicer places to visit than Florida. I live 5 hours away and have never gone voluntarily...
almsot anywhere on the ocean side coast is gorgeous. i used to visit a place on hutchinson island, one of my favorite places to visit in the country (though a bit of a drive from any of the airports)
http://www.waterpointerealty.com/wp-content/gallery/featured...
Thinking that one news story reported by the media is representative of the whole United States is like westerners thinking that if they travel to the Middle East there will be a roving bands of Muslims beheading people in the streets.
The media exaggerates EVERYTHING.
The absolute worst thing that will possibly happen to you is to get pulled aside for some extra questions and apparently somebody flipping through your phone. That sucks, but as an American who travels all the time, I have never seen or known anyone to have to go through anything like that.
The closest I can get to is one of my Indian friends being pulled aside for a pat down in Canada.
If you have an arabic sounding or looking name, it's really not a stretch to imagine that you have a name that is similar enough to someone on a watchlist and are interrogated for it, or held, or prevented from boarding a flight. If you are travelling with your family, this is not a minor inconvenience, but a real source of stress and anxiety. You just don't know the repercussions it will have on you AND your family.
The "get pulled aside for some extra questions" happens to a Maroccan colleague of mine every time he visits the US for work, and means sitting around in a crowded room for a couple of hours at best. He expects it, and just tells his colleagues to just meet him at the hotel after getting out of the plane, but this isn't something that I consider acceptable.
What has been slowly creeping in without enough people noticing is that instead of being welcoming, travellers are now foremost suspects instead of guests (not only the US). If you're funny looking, you suddenly have no rights, and there is no due process. That is scary, especially when you're far away from home.
Even for people like me, who aren't funny looking or are in any form or shape a threat, there is a chilling effect. I like to travel, and for example have been to Iran a couple of years ago as part of a longer trip. Today, I could not make that same trip as lightheartedly, and would probably "self-censor" myself out of it in fear of future repercussions when travelling to the US or other western countries with an iranian stamp in my passport. Even if it is simply FUD, and most probably would not cause real problems for me, I do not wish it to happen to anybody just because they were born in the wrong place or have the wrong name.
Also I just can't get over the fact that you have to handover your unlocked phone.