All geographies have changing definitions of population, Europe is not special in this regard. Also I do not see different meanings as “competing”, because I have no expectation that any need to “prevail” at the expense of others, they are just different.
I mean simple parity of category, If classes of people are going to be referred to in public discourse by region (as has been happening) rather than race, then it would make more sense to be consistent about it. If people want to discuss the differences of black people as compared to white people, that’s a completely different discussion than African-Americans compared to European-Americans. Instead I often encounter people comparing (for example) the comparisons of African-Americans to those of white people. Obscuring the distinction between heritage of region and heritage of race. Apples and oranges.
I am too. But it is more of a curiosity about trends in how I find the terms used in mass media and online discourse.
