Is that hyphen needed? In my opinion, it should be there. Everyone comes from somewhere, whether it's a different continent, a different country, a different state. Every culture has its traditions and makes a person who they are. I don't believe people are truly only American, since most of our ancestors have come from other places in the world. That little "minus sign" puts a meaning behind that person. Being an American and a Mexican-American can be taken as very different things.
Joe Mendoza grew up with basically all Mexicans and that is just the way he knew life. His school took segregation to the next level. They had no tolerance for children of different races being together. Mendoza had no idea that people so different could even be with each other.
All these childhood experiences impacted Joe Mendoza's life for good. Racist "scars" that were imprinted on him as a little boy would never heal. How could the time in your life that is supposed to shape you be so difficult to deal with? As hard as you try, you can never fully let go of your past. The memories and experiences stay with you throughout the rest of your life.
Being Mexican-American is almost like a whole separate race. Choices, here in America, are given as follows: Mexican-American, Chicano, Latino, and Hispanic. Do Americans define all of these races as the same group? Yes. But they find themselves very different from each other. Mexican-Americans are their own group of unique individuals that learned to adapt to American lifestyles, but still keep their Mexican traditions alive.
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