ABSTRACT
American society is presently in a period of social transition from a structurally pluralistic society to a culturally pluralistic one. The differences between the two kinds of pluralism is in the political arrangement of its culturally heterogeneous parts. Within structural pluralism the socially subordinate cultural person or group unilaterally accomodates the dominant (Anglo-American male) cultural group on the latter's terms. The dominant metaphor within cultural pluralism is the “salad bowl,” not the “melting pot,” in which the identity and integrity of the culturally distinctive units remain intact while contributing to the overall quality, effect, and purpose of the whole. Within cultural pluralism, A plus B is a better choice than A or B, both for the individual and for society as a whole, especially when the climate is set for culturally different people to become cultural resources for each other.
