Hyphenated American refers to a person in the United States who insists on appending a prefix indicating ethnicity to their American nationality in the name of racial diversity. Thus blacks go by African-Americans, orientals go by Asian-Americans, original inhabitants go by Native-Americans, Latinos go by Mexican-Americans, etc. It resists the traditional assimilation process by which immigrants are expected to enter the Melting pot, learn English, and become prosperous non-hyphenated Americans.