I think it is good to remember and, perhaps adopt, Morris Dees' terminology in referring to Americans of various descents, i.e. American of African descent; American of Irish descent; American of Native descent, etc. As he puts it, it recognises our commonality first and foremost. I am pleased to see, by a quick google search, that others are using the same terminology.

From LaShawn blog:

If you must refer to my race, call me black, not "African American." It is offensive to me. There is no such color, race, or nationality. I am an American of African descent.

I have degrees in English and law.

Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett: A Biographical Sketch of America's First American of African Descent Diplomat

This was an exciting find worth sharing, which also come up in that search: Archive of rare books and arts of Americans of African descent history. A small snippet of what was found: here are first editions by Langston Hughes and nearly every other writer from the Harlem Renaissance, many of them signed; a rare biography of the architect Paul R. Williams; and the oeuvre of the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. There is an edition of "The Negro's Complaint," a poem complete with hand-painted illustrations; books by and about every notable American of African descent from George Washington Carver to Bill Cosby; and thousands more items concerning those whose names were lost or never known.