cutting out a color and making it transparent?

[sa77]

Here is an example of what I am looking for:

http://img186.imageshack.us/my.php?image=examplejy7.jpg

Image on top: I want to design like this, black fill color and white outlines.

Image at the bottom: I want the end result to be easily adaptable with different background colors. In other words I want to cut out the white color (image in the middle) and make it transparent.

Is there an easy way to do this?

Thanks in advance!

 

[sa77]

Just realized that using multiply will do the trick!

 

[eastbayrk]

Or You could have just expanded the art and used Merge in the Pathfinder palette, then deleted the white ring leaving you with two separate shapes.