The ideologies of the Lost Cause still remain prevalent in American society today The basic assumptions of the Lost Cause have proved durable for many in the modern South.
In the mass culture of the twentieth century that celebrated national stories, some threads of Lost Cause history—like the alleged Reconstruction-era oppression of white people by corrupt carpetbaggers—became universal in the dominant American story, regardless of region.
Graham is the Curator of Exhibitions at the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia.