ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the role that racism plays in underpinning the social exclusion of different ethnic groups in Britain and looks at ways that its damage can be overcome in practice. Within this broad objective it seeks to do two things: to examine the way racism has adopted hidden coded expressions; and to look more closely at what integration and multiculturalism the overcoming of racism mean. Social work has much to contribute here through its involvement in early years work; anti-racism is foremost a matter of heart and mind and it begins in the early years. The chapter explores how practitioners can develop a practice to advance community cohesion. The concept of community cohesion is at variance with the concept of institutional racism in that cultural and ethnic differences are seen as problems in so far as they disrupt the uniformity of citizenship. On the other hand it also focuses on segregation and seeks to build bridges between ethnic communities.
