John Kerry's wife is a 'real' African American, as are many White people from Africa who have come to America. They would never call themselves 'African Americans' even though that is what they are.
The weirdest part is that the term 'African American' is super racist. Just like the word 'Negro' or 'colored' is. The term comes from the racist idea that 'Black' is bad. It is an insult to call a person Black. That is a White racist idea which Black people, for some reason, adopted.
Therefore, from a racist Liberal point of view, to soften the blow, to get around the detestable idea of a person being 'Black', they come up with words to get around it. So, we go from 'colored', so we do not have to say Black, to 'Negro', which literally means Black, to 'African American', which nobody knows what the hell that is supposed to mean. Not all the slaves came specifically from Africa anyway, so it is complete nonsense. And, it is just yet another word to save people from having to say the word...(gasp!)...Black. lol
America is a crazy place to live.
This discussion reminds me of a Black comedian I heard once. He say, African American! African American! What the Hell is that!? I ani't no African. I was born in New Jersey! lol, funny stuff.