Book excerpt: The population of ethnic minorities in Britain has rapidly increased over the last 60 years. Issues surrounding ethnic minorities have duly been concerned with education, employment and housing. In 2001, civil unrest erupted in England's northern mill towns. The inquiries concluded that white and British Asian communities were living parallel lives. This was seen to be a failure within the communities and of social policy. Segregation was cited as a contributory factor. To tackle the segregation problem, central government introduced the community cohesion policy with the aim of developing a better understanding of shared values between all origins of race, thereby celebrating ethnic diversity in Britain. This book looks at the community cohesion policy and much more in an attempt to understand ethnic segregation in contemporary Britain.