The contention that the object group of a referent term can determine appropriateness of everyone's terminology for the group is not universally valid. Moreover, there are differences within any large ethnically or racially named group as to which term is preferable. I, for instance, am not fond of being termed "white" or "Caucasian" or "European." I've notice that many in broadcast media use both "African-American" and "black" within a single news segment or commentary piece, apparently in the effort to be as inoffensive as possible.

Many now use Latino or Hispanic (capitalized or not) as a racial description although either is an ethnic description.