Avoidance does not necessarily equal self censorship. It’s not just the words or topics themselves, it’s how you use them or talk about them.
Treating people with respect is not the explicit definition, but it is the underlining goal.
In the proper context, people will understand and not be offended by words and phrases that will most certainly cause offense if used in disparaging contexts.
For example, there are many “okay” ways to use the word “retard.” PC doesn’t advocate removing it from the dictionary. But if you use it to describe a stupid person, yeah sure that’s offensive. If you think that’s terrible self-censorship, then well I don’t know what to say - we just strongly disagree.
(Side note: please let’s NOT turn this into an argument about the word retard. Don’t need to go there again.)