Virginia columnist earns Pulitzer Prize for columns challenging white supremacy

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Virginia columnist earns Pulitzer Prize for columns challenging white supremacy

Michael Paul Williams of the Richmond Times-Dispatch won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Commentary following a remarkable year for local journalism

June 11, 2021

Local journalism won today.

For his thought-provoking columns addressing the history of racism in Virginia and the prevalence of white supremacy through Confederate monuments, Michael Paul Williams of the Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch has been awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Commentary.

The Pulitzer Board, made up of 18 industry leaders and editors, awarded Williams for what they described as “penetrating and historically insightful columns” that served as a north star for the city of Richmond, a former Confederate capital, during a time of racial reckoning across the country.

“The oppression of black folks will not end with the removal of these monuments,” Williams wrote in his “The Lost Cause is dead” column for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “Racism is a system that touches every person and every aspect of our lives.”

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The recognition marks Williams’ first Pulitzer Prize. He is a multiple-time winner of the Virginia Press Association column writing award, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s second Pulitzer winner after Virginius Dabney won the award in 1948 for Editorial Writing.

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