Race relations ‘worse’ in US

– US President Donald Trump, pictured, has had a damaging influence on efforts to make some American cities stronger, safer and more cohesive, especially those looking to build bridges across racial divides, the head of The Rockefeller Foundation said.

Attempts to help communities of different ethnicities work together and feel more connected have suffered a setback since Trump took office in January, said Rajiv Shah, who ran the US Agency for International Development from 2009 to 2015.

“In those environments, the Trump effect on resilience has been quite detrimental,” said Shah.

“In America racial tension is much higher today than it was overtly even a few years ago. That is deeply damaging to many of the cities in which we work on resilience issues,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation this week.

Tulsa in Oklahoma, which is part of 100 Resilient Cities, a network backed by the Rockefeller Foundation to help cities deal with modern-day pressures, is one example of a place where things have become more difficult, Shah said.

“That we have violence and neo-fascist rallies in public places like Charlottesville and New Orleans and elsewhere is not a step forward for our democracy,” he added.

Trump drew widespread condemnation when he blamed both sides for violence at a rally in Charlottesville organised by neo-Nazis and white nationalists.

Last month, the billionaire shared anti-Muslim videos posted on Twitter by a far-right British party leader. –