It's not designed to appear elitist but to be respectful of as many people as possible. It may seem like a censorship, but it's only there to make everyone happy. Breaking "PC Culture" is ironically not breaking the culture, but simply changing the culture.
If PC seems elitist, that's because the disparity between politicians and their constituency is too big. That means politicians are paying more attention to politics and other politicians than the people they're supposed to represent.
Theory on why PC Culture has "gone too far":
Politicians have to care about their next election, thus they're constantly campaigning, thus donations make it easier, thus politicians have to pay more attention to donations, which come from big companies, who have to abide by shareholders, thus most new shareholders are demanding Progressive change, thus their narrative lends to Progressive, therefore their donations offer a Progressive message, meaning larger donations carry bigger political sway, hence Citizens United made PC Culture out of hand.