Orange County Voices : COMMENTARY ON COOPERATION : We Must Strive to Find Harmony After Cacophony of Prop. 187 : Representatives of the Orange County Human Relations Commission say residents now face the responsibility of establishing communication befitting a multicultural community.

On Nov. 8, we voted in overwhelming numbers to pass Proposition 187 to cut off services to, and education of, immigrants without legal status. To some this was standing up for law and order; to others, it was racially motivated scapegoating at its worst.

The pre-election rhetoric was so charged with emotion on both sides that it dominated our entire community’s attention. We were spellbound as outrageous charges and countercharges flew back and forth, as conservative and liberal monikers were cast aside, and we were grouped according to support or opposition, as our children started to act up and demonstrate for the first time in years, as the fabric of our community showed its threadbare nature under the strain.

The day after the election, we held our collective breath to see what the reactions would be. We watched as the dialogue moved from the streets to the courts, where the minority and the unpopular have always sought their last refuge under the protections of the Constitution. With the ink barely dry on the election results, the legal challenges that both sides predicted were filed and the long court journey was begun.

In the meantime, the emotions that were whipped into an election eve frenzy continue to spill out all over. Letters to the editors in record numbers malign the courts and the Constitution as interfering with the mandate of the people, and children and families are driven by irrational fears based on wild rumors.

It seems that for the near future rather than solving the problems as promised, Proposition 187 has pointed the finger, divided our community and raised expectations that are impossible to meet, thereby leaving us with an increasingly frustrated and angry populace crying for more and more on the one side and on the other side feeling alienated, isolated, angry and under siege.

How can we hold together as a community while this divisive issue is debated, challenged and finally decided, knowing full well that no matter what the ultimate outcome, it is unlikely to live up to our expectations?

The Orange County Human Relations Commission was created by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to build mutual understanding among the diverse residents of our community. We don’t know what is the best path forward, but we know the goal: It is to get there together.

If we are to hold together as a great society, we must go back to the basics: We have to talk to each other. Through this time-honored process of dialogue we can as a community begin to better understand different perspectives and eventually make better decisions--decisions that bring us together in our diversity and make us strong because of it.

Just as survival of a species is positively affected by the diversity of its diet so shall we be made strong as a community by the diversity of our elements. Who knows what skills, abilities, talents or languages will be pivotal to our economic survival in the rapidly approaching future?

We must find the generosity of spirit to come together after elections and try to make this experiment in democracy work. For if each election is merely the starting gun in yet another campaign of vilification of our elected officials and our laws, it is not the policies that will be denigrated--in the end it will be our country and its system of Democratic government.

The Orange County Human Relations Commission invites all interested parties to an open forum Thursday at 7 p.m. at 1300 S. Grand, Building B, in Santa Ana to begin this dialogue. We will hear from officials about the facts involved in implementing Proposition 187 and from all sides about their ideas as to how we can pull together as a community as these contentious issues are being decided. Orange County Together--a special collaboration of the United Way of Orange County, the Orange County Human Relations Council, businesses and community members--will be joining us as we initiate this dialogue and pose such questions on the passage of Prop. 187 as:

* What does it mean and how will we as a community deal with its implementation and challenges?

* Will we be torn apart by our emotions, expectations and fears?

* Is there a path forward which brings our community together during this difficult time?

* Are there things we can do to prevent the escalating hostility?

No matter what side of this issue we come down on, we must work together to address these questions and chart a course that will bring us to a future where diverse people can disagree about important issues and still coexist in peace.