There is a trend to rename things over time. A name hurts someone’s feelings or is somehow deemed offensive. You’ve seen it. It goes something like this:

Cripple -> handicapped -> differently abled -> physically challenged
Blind -> visually impaired
Deaf -> hearing impaired
Cancer patient -> cancer survivor
Prisoner -> inmate -> offender
Retarded -> mentally challenged
Mongolian idiot -> person with Down’s syndrome

Notice something about all these changelings? None of them are a good thing to be. Now look at this one:

Negro -> black -> African-American

I conclude that being a nigger is perceived by people to be a bad thing. I agree.

You can also see the same trend with:

Wetback -> illegal alien -> undocumented worker

But this one stays the same because it is a good thing:

White -> white -> white

This is why the “European-American” moniker has never taken off – being white is a good thing and needs no updated terminology.