"Black" vs. "African-American"

I read Pepper's article about using either "black" or "African American" when referring to people. It contradicts what Lambiase said in class and leaves me a little confused.

I like to be politically correct when I speak, and so I've wondered also the best way to refer to people. I think if people truly are African American, that is, part African, part American, then it would be very PC to call them African-American. However, if they are not, and rather are many generations removed, then I almost think it ridiculous to refer to them as so. As Pepper stated, most people would rather be called "black" anyway. I think the people that get most offended by that are not even black/African American, but rather are other races that are scared to not be PC and offend people.

I guess what Lambiase said in class does make sense. She posed the question "why do we have to refer to people by their color/race/heritage anyway? Why don't we just describe them?" Interesting. Well, because it would be too difficult that way. Wrong or not, stereotypes do help us condense stories. Even when casually telling a story to friends, if we think saying the main person is black will help get the point of the story across, we'll do it. On the other hand, if the story has nothing to do with our ideas of how certain people act, we don't find it necessary to explain their race. (I'm not sure if this makes sense... I'm sort of processing it as I write it.)

All that to say, I just realized what it means when it is said that stereotyping makes things "simplex". It's very true. So the question is... is this terribly bad? I don't know that it is in every scenario, but feel free to prove me wrong.