system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why aren't white people in the United States referred to as "European Americans" like how blacks are referred to as "African Americans?"
gpt
The term "african american" came about as a deliberate attempt to reduce discrimination by making race about ethnicity and not about skin color, to get away from the racist connotations associated with the term "black". As there were no comparable negative connotations associated with "white", there was no real need to change the term.