Thinking Allowed - 13/05/2009

Are walls going up around Britain's communities? Are we sleepwalking to racial segregation? Laurie hears of new research which counters some contemporary fears about immigration in Britain. In 2005, Trevor Phillips, then Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality warned, 'The walls are going up around many of our communities and the bridges are crumbling ... we are sleepwalking our way to segregation'. Are there really ghettoes growing in Britain's cities? Laurie talks to Ludi Simpson about his new research into the state of segregation in Britain and hears from Tariq Modood about how and why Muslim communities are feared. Also in the programme, Laurie hears from Rachel Shabi about the Mizrahis, Israel's Jews from Arab lands. Many talk Arabic and their customs are rooted in the Middle East, but despite constituting almost half of the Israeli population she claims they are sidelined and discriminated against in their own country.