EN
The case of France and the UK illustrate two different approaches when it comes to the integration of ethnic minorities within the larger society. In this paper we found it interesting to indirectly compare the two different approaches. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, in some West European countries, it seems that racism expressed through the rejection of those who are culturally distinct remains more than ever divisive and to some extent an impediment and contradiction to the true process of Democracy. The reasons explaining such phenomenon are without doubt to be found in a certain historical past and heritage.