Although the United States has avowedly been a multi-racial country built on the principles of lib-erty and equality from the very beginning of its history， it was in fact a racist country for a conslder-able period of time， the white Americans(Anglo-Saxon Protestants， in particular)controlling thewhole system while the others(Native Americans and African Americans)relegated to servitude orsubordination.  Even the revolutionary leaders， such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin， the foremostproponents of the democratic ideals， found it difficult to stick to their words， admittingg that "nature，habit， opinion， had drawn indelible lines of distinction between [whites and blacks]"(Jefferson)， orthat“if it be the design of Providence to extirpate these Savages in order to make room for cultivatorsof the earth， it[seemed]not improbable that rum[might]be the appointed means.”(Franklin)  In contrast to the ordinary Americans who were generally callous to the misfortunes of the non-whites， the newcomers or visitors from abroad， such as Crevecoeur and Tocqueville， were muchmore humane or at least objective：“Might one not say that the [white man] is to men of otherraces what man is to the animals”(Tocqueville) Both Crevecoeur and Tocqueville， however， weretoo optimistic about the possibility of mixing or intermingling of“races，”i. e. European nationali-ties in America；for it was the Anglo-Saxons (or Teutons， including Germans and Scandinavians)--social elite， as it were--that held power and put the others (those from East Europe andSouth Europe) in inferior positions.  It seems quite natural that the Jewish people， with their centuries of migratory experiences andanti-authoritarian (or egalitarian) inclinations， were the first to accommodate themselves to the newenvironment， some even coming up with assimilationist or pluralistic propositions.“The Jew is herecitizen of a republic without a State religion-...-a republic resting， moreover， on the same simpleprinciples of justice and equal rights as the Mosaic Commonwealth，”said Israel Zangwill， author ofthe famed play, The Melting Pot (1908)， in which a Jewish youth and a Christian girl were going tobe married. Horace Kallen， however， who was critical of the idea of Americanization on an Anglo-Saxon model， refuted：“As in orchestra every type of instrument has its specific timbre and tonal-ity，...so in society each ethnic group may be the natural instrtlment...and make the symphony ofcivilization.”(“Democracy Versus the Melting Pot，”1915)  Efforts to realize“cultural pluralism”were continued toward the middle of the 20th century by suchminority artists as Yasuo Kiniyoshi， a Japanese American， Ben Shahn， a Jewish American and JacobLawrence， an African American. Kuniyoshi， for example， who was denied the American citizenshipsimply because he was“an alien ineligible to citizenship，”thought that America was "a country of allraces  gathered together here because they[shared]a belief in the democratic ideals；...it wasa combination of many colors woven into a wonderful pattern， too complex to describe，”echoing， infact， Randolph Bourne's argument that“America[was]coming to be， not a nationality but a trans-nationality， a weaving back and forth， with the other lands， of many threads of all sizes and col-ors.” (“Trans-National Amerlca，”1916)Both Shahn and Lawrence executed a scene， in which peo-ple of different colors-...--white， black， red (yellow)， and brown--gathered together around anolive branch， or under a divine message， in an effort to achieve peaceful coexistence：“Have we notall the one Father?/Has not the one God created us?/Why then do we break faith with each other，violating the covenant of our fathers?”(Malachai 2：10)  In the multicultural society brought about by the people like these， it seems mandatory(1)togive full privileges to the racia1/ethnic minorities -not only the right to redress their grievancesbut also the right to maintain their own culture and put it in proper perspective in American history，(2) to reconfirm the principle of social integration， “e pluribus unum，” in order to avoid the dan-gers of disruption-  “the disuniting of America”(Arthur M. Schlesinger， Jr.) or“institutionaliza-tion of differences”(Nathan Glazer)--incurred by some extremist(i. e. separatist)attempts，and (3)to envision a“postethnic society，”(David A. Hollinger)， in which not only racial/ethniccultural autonomy but also voluntary and multiple afilliations are possible. A newer American， inother words， is to be born， who， unlike Crevecoeur's“new American，”who was inevitably of Euro-pean origin， is neither white nor of any other color， but just an American believing in the AmericanCreed：justice， equality， and free opportunity.