In this paper I attempt to bridge some of the needs and realities of American multicultural educational paradigms in the 1990s and the often ignored educational goals, principles, and assumptions in a liberal democratic society that aspires to pluralism. I will argue that (a) multicultural paradigms are as essential to improving "mainstream" education as they are to furthering the education of different cultural groups and (b) plurality should be concerned with meaningful learning in both a particular and a multiple perspective and worldview.