Dateline Paris. 18 November 2005. The biggest explosion of street violence in France since the late 1960s has jolted the country into confronting its failure to include its 7 million residents of Arab and African origin in the national mainstream. Some experts believe the crux of the problem lies with France's integration policy. Government bodies and private companies are barred from gathering data based on ethnicity or religion -- which are deemed potentially divisive. France has always deemed its model superior to the Anglo-Saxon approach of diversity, which has enabled ethnic minorities to retain strong bonds in cultural and religious communities. France calls this "comunitarism" and says that it promotes ghettos, exclusion, poverty, race riots, and religious extremism that can ultimately lead to actions such as the London bombings. French Equal Opportunities Minister Azouz Begag has urged the government to overturn the ban on collecting such data, telling Le Figaro newspaper that it was important to assess the presence of minorities in various professions. Job discrimination was a key complaint voiced by many youths who rioted in immigrant suburbs in recent weeks. "We need to see France's true colours," Mr. Begag said.