By The Editors

Issues of race and civil rights were prominent in this year’s awarding of the Pulitzer Prizes this week.

Historian Annette Gordon-Reed’s “The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family,” which received the National Book Award last fall, won for history. Gordon-Reed’s book documents the family of Sally Hemings, a slave who had an intimate relationship with Thomas Jefferson and bore at least one of his children. In the drama category, Lynn Nottage took the prize for “Ruined,” a harrowing tale about a brothel set against the backdrop of civil war in the Congo.

*Top: Photo of a Haitian Woman, Douglas Blackmon, Lynn Nottage. *Bottom: Eugene Robinson, Annette Gordon-Reed, Damon Winter

The general nonfiction award went to “Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II” by Douglas A. Blackmon, Atlanta bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. For news commentary, Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post won for columns on the 2008 presidential campaign, which focused heavily on race. Damon Winters of The New York Times won in the category of feature photography for his captivating photos of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. And for breaking news photography, Patrick Farrell of The Miami Herald won for photos of the aftermath of disastrous storms in Haiti.

All of these winners address the past and present dynamics of race – some interwoven with the exploitation of women – in the West. From the impact of racial classification in colonial America to the ruinous results of racially-motivated imperialism and international neglect in Haiti and the Congo, to a triumphant step forward in America’s present-day struggles with race, these stories underscore that at the dawn of the 21st century, race remains a defining issue around the globe.

Photo of Haitian woman by Patrick Farrell , Miami Herald
Photo of Annette Gordon-Reed by Jerry Bauer
Photo of Lynn Nottage by Tony Cenicola
Photo of Eugene Robinson by Barry Myers
Photo of Damon Winter by Fred R. Conrad
Photo of Douglas Blackmon by Michael A. Schwartz