Caroline Ford wrote:
It's not used in the UK. We use "black". People are officially described as Black Caribbean or Black African. (or Black British).
The official term in the US is "black and/or African-American", at least according to the census.
There seems to be disagreement in the black community over which term to use. Supporters of "African-American" argue that term is better because it puts more emphasis on the culture rather than just the skin color, while supporters of "black" argue that "African-American" implies that blacks are not real Americans and really are properly considered "Africans", even if they've lived here for hundreds of years. There's a number of other arguments on both sides. I'd say the term "black" is used more often these days, though "African-American" was more common 10 years ago.
There's also the occasional use of other terms, mostly due to historical reasons. For example, the biggest advocacy organization is the NAACP, the "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People", though the term "colored people" is not itself used anymore.
Just FYI. =]
-Mark