Harry Belafonte, civil rights activist and singer, has said that President Obama and his mission have failed because of a lack of moral courage and vision. Those strong words, coming from a man who has spent most his life fighting for civil rights in America, cannot be ignored. Jesse Jackson earlier made crude remarks about candidate Obama looking down on Black people.

Do the old civil rights leaders have a sense of unfinished business? It seems they think that seeing a man of color elected president of the United States should be followed by a “revolution” in American society. It is unclear what the mission of President Obama is vis a vis minorities in a country where a colored president is simply a symbolic president.

The truth is that President Obama’s job is even harder than any other president before him. President Obama has to face the extreme right groups in Congress whose mission it is to obstruct anything. Does Mr. Belafonte know that Rush Limbaugh, the popular talk show host and right wing extremist, wishes to see President Obama fail? The debt ceiling debate speaks loudly about the difficulties that the president is having.

Harry Belafonte should know better — the demon of racism will never go away in America. It was unrealistic to believe that President Obama would change America. It is mission impossible. The 84-year old Harry Belafonte should open his eyes and see the truth. As the Hausa of Niger say, “If you cannot see during the day, you cannot see at night.”