Obama to fight inequality

President Barack Obama has blamed a lack of opportunity in minority communities and harsher treatment of black and Hispanic men by police for fueling a sense of "unfairness and powerlessness".

He called for a nationwide mobilisation to reverse inequalities and said the cause will remain a mission for the rest of his presidency and his life.

"There are consequences to indifference," Obama said.

Helping launch a foundation to assist young minorities, Obama said the catalysts of protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and in Baltimore were the deaths of young black men and "a feeling that law is not always applied evenly in this country".

"They experience being treated differently by law enforcement - in stops and in arrests, and in charges and incarcerations," Obama said.

"The statistics are clear, up and down the criminal justice system. There's no dispute."

The new organisation, My Brother's Keeper Alliance, is an outgrowth of Obama's year-old My Brother's Keeper initiative, which has focused on federal government policies and grants designed to increase access to education and jobs.

While the effort predates the tensions in Baltimore that erupted after the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, the significance of the new private-sector alliance has been magnified by the spotlight the riots in the city placed on low-income minority neighbourhoods.

"By almost every measure, the life chances of the average young man of colour is worse than his peers," Obama said.

"Folks living in those communities, and especially young people living in those communities, could use some help to change those odds," Obama said.

Obama also praised police officers for putting their lives on the line and singled out Brian Moore, a 25-year-old New York City police officer shot in the head over the weekend while attempting to stop a man suspected of carrying a handgun.

He said police "deserve our gratitude and our prayers, not just today but every day. They've got a tough job".