A Critical Analysis of Policy Responses to Community Violence: From Colorblind to Antiracist Policy.

Abstract

Community violence is a significant public health and safety problem in the United States that disproportionately affects Black and Brown communities. Community violence intervention (CVI)-a healing-centered approach implemented by and for those most affected by community and structural violence-received historic federal investment beginning in 2021. These investments are now under threat from the Trump administration, which canceled hundreds of millions of dollars supporting CVI. In this analytic essay, we (1) critically examine how racialized ideological frames underlying CVI differ from more traditional tough-on-crime approaches, using federal policy responses during the 1980s to 1990s and early 2020s as points of comparison; and (2) describe the efforts, events, and movements that contributed to unprecedented federal investment in CVI in 2021 to 2022. At a time of intensified governmental efforts to roll back antiracist policies and programs, we offer a timely, historically contextualized, and theoretically grounded analysis of how ideology, collective action, and research shape policy decisions of critical importance to population health and safety. (<i>Am J Public Health</i>. 2026;116(9): 1426-1435. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308458).