ABSTRACT
There is a common assumption that Britain was somehow ethnically homogeneous before the major post-war migrations from the Caribbean and Indian subcontinent in the mid twentieth century. In fact, Britain has always been ethnically diverse and, as the quotation above demonstrates, racism has a long history too. In this chapter, my focus is upon the most recent part of that history; specifically, how has education policy sought to respond to Britain’s ethnically diverse population?1 My aim is to identify broadly the changing landscapes of education policy: unfortunately, the continuities are strong. Indeed, I will argue that despite changes in terminology, even the most recent policy moves give little or no cause for optimism that racism is finally to be addressed seriously in education policy.2
