Well, Shambles, as it has been said, the intention counts more than what is actually said. Having said that, the thread title looks a bit suspicious to me for it singles out the term African American out of many possible terms like Irish American.

The idea to say USAmerican (my preference too) to describe a person and not to make a further distinction by referring to racial background is a good one. If I bring a friend or a visitor to a party no one needs to know in advance what shade of skin to expect.

However, there are situations in which a reference to racial background makes sense (describing a perpetrator, referring to differential admission quota,...). What term would suggest to use in these situations instead of African American, Shambles?

Wolfgang