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In the US, this term is often seen as a more formal and polite alternative to black.[3]
Aside from black and of color, most other synonyms are dated, and likely to be considered offensive in the US.
This term is not generally used for Americans of North African descent, such as Moroccans or Egyptians, nor is it used for European Africans. It is specifically used to refer to the group of people that have descended from the Atlantic slave trade, racial segregation, and the civil rights movement that have resided in the United States for centuries as well as other Americans with African heritage, but the term is sometimes used incorrectly to refer to other groups of people, such as West Indians, more recent African immigrants, or erroneously to any black person, even if not African or American. This incorrect usage can cause offense.
^ Isabel Wilkerson (1989 January 31) “‘African-American’ Favored By Many of America's Blacks”, in The New York Times, page A1: “A movement led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson to call blacks African-Americans has met with both rousing approval and deep-seated skepticism in a debate that is coming to symbolize the role and history of blacks in this country.”
African Americans on Wikipedia.Wikipedia 