What bugs me immensely about this whole situation is that we can't really discuss it in public. I feel like if I dare express disagreement with current policies and predominant views, I could be fired. I could be publicly attacked and shamed, even for what seems to me like rational arguments along the lines of "let's take a step back and look at this problem from multiple angles".

Being attacked and labeled as a racist because you dare question these kinds of policies essentially amounts to gaslighting, and the idea that we're not allowed to express disagreement against these kinds of policies is well, censorious and oppressive.