Division and narrative control. That's what political correctness is about. There is a war for the minds and hearts of people in an attempt to force change through guilt.
I cannot speak for the rest of the world, but it seems something that exists mostly in the United States. I am sure it is found in other first world nations.
One of my favorite examples of how ridiculous it is was during an interview on ESPN with an NHL player who played for the Calgary Flames. He was asked by the ESPN commentators what it was like to be one of the few African-American players in the NHL. The player responded - "I don't know. I'm not African or American. I am Canadian."
The hyphenated world is divisive.
Another example in the United States is replacing "Illegal Alien" with "Undocumented Immigrant". The latter term is used by those who feel it is less offensive. That's like calling a murder a "non-consensual assisted suicide" or a theft a "non-consensual co-ownership of property" or trespassing as "non-consensual co-habitation of property".
Political Correctness is similar in Orwellian double-talk.