Politically Correct?! Please!

"Should we avoid all words that might offend a certain group?"

Personally, I can understand what the merits are of being politically correct, it is just a way of ensuring that no one gets offended from the language someone uses, unintentionally. But I also have to say that I believe that everyone has the right to say what they want. Sometimes I feel that people are overly sensitive to 'sexism' and 'racism'. Of course, sometimes I feel that people are completely out of line, like the popular phrase to women "b****, go make me a sandwich", which is just rude. But I think that if someone really did not intentionally say something sexist or racist, like saying the phrase whiter than white, what is the harm. Sometimes it is not even a racist slur, it is simply a phrase about the colour. That is when I think that political correctness can go out of control. Although I internally wince if I hear the phrases that put normal accomplishments as 'male' actions, I really think that we shouldn't really take that too badly. Of course, language was originally made in a culture where men were considered higher than women, and white was considered better than black. Nowadays, I am happy to say, it is not as much an issue, but I think that these phrases needed to be accepted as how they are, perhaps outdated, but still simply ways of expressing opinions and ideas, that was originally created in a time where it was common practice to be racist or sexist. I still am not sure on my complete view on this, but I do believe that certain phrases take it too far, especially when they are said with malicious intent, but harmless idioms, I think, can be accepted, at least, I accept them as part of the way things are, and not the person's true perspective.