It's not a perfect system, and remains susceptible to corruption from extremism, but it's historically superior to anything else that's been tried. Presumably this is a reality you've since enjoyed.
Key - for minorities as much as anyone else - is ensuring principles of free speech are upheld. The "woke" crowd have generally promoted censorship ("cancelling"), and therefore are incompatible with protecting their own rights.
As we're seeing here, with exactly this.
Those not wishing to face the difficult and nuanced reality of these debates equate these in appeals to emotions rather than citing specificity. Not interested in any discussion that employs that technique.
What books? Why? What "health" measures? Why? What were the arguments for and against? Side-stepping these questions is side-stepping the process correct outcomes depend on.
Why would someone want to do that?