It starts with a stupid premise:
“Being Mexican or Part Mexican”.
There is no such thing.
It would be like everyone emigrating to Mexico and trumpeting “I’m part American”.
“Really?”
How can either statement be true?
The respective countries are multi ethnic and ancestors from all over the globe.
To be Mexican is very much like saying “I’m Palestinian”...uhmmm, no yer not.
Within the boundaries of Mexico is a rich history pre dating Hernando Cortez.
Yeah, seems there were quite a few native tribes such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec, to name a few.
In fact, there were hundreds of tribes.
Today, Mexico still has thise tribes but, it’s citizens draw on their ancestry from Spain, The Moors, Irish, German, Lebanese, French and many other blood lines.
There is, however, no such thing as Mexican Ethnicity.
There is no “Mexican” language before the year 1519. The languages were various and unique to each tribe, just they were for native populations within the borders of what would become America.
There is no common or grand Mexican history.
When archaeologists uncover lost cities and civilizations in Mexico they work mightily at identifying who the people were and they never declare them “Oh! Mexicans”.
So no, there are no Mexican Americans.
Your post, there are no Mexican Americans is very good, except things change. There are no Mexican Americans in history, but there are Mexicans today (in Mexico) and Mexican American today (in the U.S.).
From what I can tell, the emergence of a national (but not ethnic) identity of Mexico is real and all Mexicans are proud of the country’s rich history of pre-Columbian tribes, the colonial period, and the national period.
I think we conservatives would say the same thing about our country. American isn’t an ethnicity but it is a national identity that embraces our rich history. It’s the liberals who want to turn us into members of so many tribes.
With regard to being a hyphenated American, I suppose first generation immigrant have one foot in their country of origin and another foot in their country of choice. But I would be disappointed if second generation have such divided loyalties. In this view, there would be some Mexican Americans and they would either be resident aliens or naturalized citizens. In my view, Susana Martinez, having been a natural born citizen, is an American. Same thing with Ted Cruz.