It was when the Black Panthers started challenging the authority of Oakland California police to indiscriminately brutalize and arrest Black people in that city that they earned the respect of the African American community. The nation wide inner city civil rights riots in the 1960's and 70's only served to agitate the strained relations between the two long time enemies. This unpopular police reputation in African American communities is historical, well earned and has been maintained and perpetuated over the years. Police brutality evolved out of an absolute need to dominate the thinking and actions of what was considered a controlled class of people in American society. It is now, and has always been nothing less than a form of racism in its most elementary form.
Police officers are a mirrored image of the society from which they emerge.
It is difficult for any well meaning American to imagine the degree to which racist attitudes affect even highly educated, humane white people who honestly feel they do not have a prejudice bone in their body. In a predominately white culture, all white people have privilege, in spite of the fact that they are not overtly racist themselves. Generally, honest and sincere White policemen will react with shocked innocence when minorities complain about police brutality and unfair treatment. On the other hand, it has been said that in many cases involving white police officers making African American arrests, racism is not the primary motive. Arguably, one might contend the officers' choices did not conclusively indicate a desire to punish the Black motorist for being black, but to maximize the highest chance of apprehending a lawbreaker.