A MAJORITY of black people in the US say they or a family member have suffered racism from police, according to a new survey.

The survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research found that half of black respondents said they personally had been treated unfairly by police because of their race, compared with 3 per cent of whites.

Another 15 per cent said they knew of a family member who had been treated unfairly by the police because of their race.

Larry Washington of Merriville, Indiana, described how a white police officer racially abused him when he was arrested for theft as a teenager. “He kept calling me ‘nigger’.” he said.

“It’s been like this for a long time. It’s just now that everybody starting to record it and stuff, it’s just hitting the spotlight.”