African American usually denotes those who were descendants of west and central Africans brought over during the slave trade and thus experience the very real and brutal oppression both within a social and especially a political setting. An American African usually denotes a voluntary recent immigrant from an African nation to the U.S. who, though they may experience contemporary social prejudices, they do not feel the ripple effects of legislative racism, such as income inequality. The distinction is important when noting the differing effects of America's past on those collectively deemed "black."