[RACooper]

I'd say it has to do with culture heritage really... after all historically speaking Europeans have also refered to themselves in the hyphenated American form as well (Irish-American, Italian-American, and if you go back far enough Anglo & Scotch as well)... as for the terms African American and Asian American those terms are for the most part descriptives invented by the majority to be applied to a minority - a majority that doesn't seem to care for the finer details of cultural origin (or wish to be constantly reminded)... because in the case of African American those details are lost or eliminated because of the nature of their arrival in the US - not as immigrants but as slaves...