I've got a problem with labels like African American or American of African decent.

I had a friend who was puzzled how to fill in a census type question for her family. She was Irish on both sides. Her husband was Indian on one side, Portuguese and a bit Italian on the other, and he'd been born in Gibraltar. What was the right label for her children.

So if your ancestry includes slaves from Africa, slacveowners from England, and immigrants from Ireland and Russia how is a label like African American or American of African descent relevant?