Black vs.African American

Considering I am not black, I usually hesitate before I use any racial tagging. First, I try to ask myself, is it necessary to even mention this person's race? Not only to eliminate the use of racial tagging, but also I know I won't offend anyone by mis-using either word: black or African-American. It's usually much easier to address someone by their color if there aren't as many blacks as whites in a crowd. However, if I re-think about the situation, I'm sure there would be some other way to identify a person if I took the time to think - maybe the color of their shirt or pants, or a hat, something of that nature.
But it's also funny as hard as I might try to not offend and say something like, "That man in the blue shirt..." Someone might respond by saying, "Oh, you mean the black guy?" It seems like it defeats the purpose, but there's usually no need to spawn a debate about racial identifiers.
It's odd to think that we are so accustomed to labeling blacks, Hispanics, etc, anyone that is not "white," that it doesn't even phase us anymore.
It's hard to break that kind of mindset when it's been conditioned for us to use it. The Advertising Age article on "Is Black Back?" brought up very good cultural examples that helped shape our use of racial identifiers. Black first had a negative connotation in the Civil War times, then it was something to be proud of in the '80s. Then the 2000 Census made us even more aware of our physical differences and made us put labels on our own race, and we still can't seem to break that.
Black is once again becoming a positive word for most. However, should we still use African-American, and if so, when? I think that African-American sounds more politically correct (as long as they are in fact African descendants) and more formal. I guess the safest thing is try to eliminate racial identifiers as much as possible, but when you feel you have to use it, be aware of your audience and the possible feedback you might receive.