The Editor,
Re: "Hailing Richmond's own Highway to Heaven," News, Nov. 30.
While it is true that these religious institutions and schools exist cheek by jowl on No. 5 Road, as far as understanding and integrating with each other, they may as well all be in different countries.
There has been an effort made to have one or two volleyball games between Muslim and Jewish children as a way of breaking down barriers and over coming suspicions, but as long as parents take their children from home to religious schools and back home again, there is absolutely no way progress will be made for these children to learn and mingle with others from our diverse community.
If any of these religious leaders want to see integration in action they can visit any of Richmond's public schools and they will see children whose skin colouring goes from black to white and every hue in between. They will see every ethnic background represented and children playing tag, shooting hoops and doing all the myriad things that kids will do to entertain each other.
The children do not see, nor do they care about skin colour, different head coverings or the religion, if any, of their school friends, all they want to do is play and enjoy each other's company.
The Richmond Museum's idea of having different faiths represented in an exhibit from the "Highway to Heaven" is a nice thought, but until these religious institutions lower the draw bridge and fill in the moats, they will never be as successful as our public schools in supplying the future leaders of our country.
Alan Halliday
Richmond
