Correct vs. Incorrect

BLACK VS. AFRICAN AMERICAN

Today in class we were talking about Race and where it comes from and what the definition is for it. Everyone wrote down their own definition on a sheet of paper and it was very interesting to see how many people thought Race had to do with so many things. When i think about Race, i think about skin color and where the people originally come from. But as we had a discussion in class, other people said that Race had to do with a person's heritage, ethnicity, cultural identity, and physical features. Everyone is brought up in a different way and is taught about Race differently. When i was young and innocent, i just assumed people were either black or white. But now as i have matured and grown up, there are a lot of different components to Race other than just being black or white.

But the thing that comes to my mind when i talk about Race is the correct way to describe a person from Africa. Do you call them Black or African American. Some people in the class were calling them black, while others were calling them African American. I have always said black but i never want to offend anyone. So i looked it up on the Internet to see which was the correct name to call them. Some of the sites said that the blacks don't really care what they are called, but some of them, do prefer to be called black. ~SITE~ So which word do i use? Is it up to me to decide because blacks don't necessarily prefer a certain word? What do you think?