African-American is a sensible term. it's a word in a long row of new acceptable words to call black people, because blacks don't want to be associated with terms that are framed negatively when appearing in sentences so they think that by altering the word they can help alter the connotation. "Nigger -> Blacks -> African Americans -> coloured People -> People of Colour" is not the correct line of thought. No matter what the next word is, they'll find a reason to be proud of their culture and re-engineer a new word until people change their attitudes. New words lose charm quickly and the cycle begins all over again. It's a very difficult struggle.