Is "African American" wrong?

I used to be against the term "african american", mostly because I find it easier to just say "black". Other reasons included the fact that I have never been to Africa, and don't know much to anything about Africa, really don't care to go there, and honestly, do not care as much for it as I probably should. (while its interesting and it would be nice to see the REAL africa and not the "africa" you see in tv commercials, I find black culture within America more interesting).

I also learned recently through a blog by a black person, that "African American" is a term whites use to try to prove they are not racist. According to Abagond, the term African American is only a word scholarly types of people use.

But I found myself being less against it, the more I heard whites be against it, mostly because the whites that were against it, lacked any understanding for the word, and often would say something racist about the word or in some way or form reveal their racist views through objection to the word.

I just recently, and I literally mean recently, finally and truly understood the word. I guess it was when I was searching for self discovery and my identity as a mulatto (is mulatta the female version of the word?????) that I started to understand the term African American.

For starters, blacks are not treated as Americans, but most importantly, it gives them an identity. Blacks being able to have an identity didn't really start to happen until after slavery ended.

It annoys me when people say mean things about the term "African American' yet are perfectly okay with Asian America, Hispanic American, and etc. Most blacks who use the term African American strongly exhibit an identity, usually a positive one. While that isn't always the case, it is for the most part.

Mulatto is in such the same way. People say "mulatto" is a bad word, but it isn't. It simply describes someone as half white and half black. Its their identity, it evokes an identity, its much stronger than biracial.

African American does the same for blacks, it is doing for them what mulatto does for me. So why deny someone that identity? It does not matter if that term is an American thing only. It does not matter if its politically correct. What matters is if it gives people a positive identity or helps put them on a track to finding self discovery that without that term, they may not have found.