Black pride in Obama shouldn’t silence dissent on drone policy

One of the proudest moments of my life was in December, when I had the opportunity to take my mother to the White House to meet not just any president, but the first black president and first lady. As an African-American man I fully understand and embrace the cultural celebration of President Barack Obama.

Black America continues to be the president’s firewall. Without black voter support and determination to show up at the polls on his behalf in 2008 and again 2012, it’s likely we would be talking about President Clinton, McCain or Romney today.

African-Americans are ever ready to stand up for President Obama against perceived mistreatment and disrespect of him by his political opposition. After all, few of us cannot recall a moment when we felt we were being undermined because of our race.

However, our community’s near solidarity in support of the president is probably only exceeded by our collective disdain for injustice; which is why the news of the Obama administration’s drone policy made me stop and think.

Through a Department of Justice memo, first obtained by NBC News, we learned that the Obama administration has determined it has the authority to kill a U.S. citizen on foreign soil using drones if the target is deemed to be a senior operational leader of Al Qaeda, and if it has been determined that they both pose “imminent threats” to the United States and that capturing the individual would not be feasible.

What’s troubling for some is that this policy of unilateral action leaves too much room for potential abuse. The thought that our government could kill Americans and ignore their constitutional right to a free and fair trial — all because some unnamed government official, who might divulge little or no reason for their suspicion, deems them an “imminent threat” – is disturbing to civil libertarians. It’s hard not to imagine the level of outrage and protest from Democrats and liberals if such a memo had been released under the Bush administration. Conservatives have a fair point when they say that George W. Bush faced far more scrutiny from liberals over his expansion of executive power.