Black vs. African American

I just read the article about the use of black versus the term african american. I definitely do find it that black is more widley used especially amongst young people. Im friends with many black people and i have actually asked them what they prefer to be called and have gotten many different responses. I had a black roommate my freshmen year and i asked her what she preferred to be called. She surprising said american. I asked her why not african and she said "I am not african", Im from america. I was very surprised. The term black doesnt offend her but calling her african for some reason did. I can also relate this to the hispanic culture. The latin culture is very picky of what to be called. Some get offended if you call them a mexican, as if for some reason its diseased. They want to be called hispanic but for those who are really mexican they get offended if you call them hispanic. Its all rather confusing and immature if you ask me.