Reverend Jesse Jackson criticises Donald Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric for fostering 'mean-spirited divide' in US

The civil rights activist says black people have been used as 'scapegoats' for deeper economic and cultural fears

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The Reverend Jesse Jackson has criticised Donald Trump’s heavily anti-immigration rhetoric for fostering racist sentiments in the US after the shooting of two black men by US police.

A peaceful protest against the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in Dallas overnight was interrupted by snipers who opened fire on police officers, killing five and injuring six more.

Rev. Jackson, a prominent civil rights activist who has stood as a candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination twice, said an anti-black, anti-semitic, Islamaphobic and sexist mood is growing nationally, creating a “mean-spirited divide” across America.

Speaking to the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme before news of the Dallas shooting broke, Rev. Jackson pointed to the controversial pledges made by Mr Trump within his campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination.

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Rev. Jackson said threats to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and Mr Trump’s infamous pledge to build a wall on the border with Mexico have had a “devastating impact” on the US, fracturing race relations.

“He [Trump] is a factor in that, but it’s not just Trump, it’s the followers of Trump who really believe that somehow they have lost… the blacks and browns and Muslims, we’ve globalised capital by globalising human rights.

“We’ve been used as scapegoats for deeper and deeper economic and cultural fears. But we’re not the cause of them.”

Rev Jackson joins a growing chorus of voices condemning racial discrimination and police brutality in America.

Beyonce issued a powerful call to action on her website in an open letter calling for communities across the US to “take a stand and demand that they stop killing us".