The term existed earlier, but it became common after civil rights leaders, including Jesse Jackson, promoted it in 1988. The goal was to tie identity to a heritage and continent, the way terms like Irish American do, rather than to skin color. It followed earlier names, including colored, Negro and Afro-American, each of which reflected its era's politics.
In the 2020 census, about 46.9 million people identified as Black alone or in combination with another race. The group is diverse. In 2019, about one in ten Black people in the US was an immigrant, mostly from the Caribbean and Africa, according to Pew Research Center. Many of them identify as Jamaican, Haitian or Nigerian American rather than as African American.
Both Black and African American are widely accepted. Many style guides now capitalize Black as a racial and cultural identity, a change made by the Associated Press in 2020. Some descendants of people enslaved in the US also use terms that center that lineage, especially in debates over reparations.