This is a clip from O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the Coen Brothers’ fantastical retelling of Homer’s Odyssey:

The whole scene is saturated in symbolism but the specific example I want to point out refers to the depression-era dissolution of the second Klan.

From Wikipedia:

A significant characteristic of the second Klan was that it was an organization based in urban areas, reflecting the major shifts of population to cities in both the North and the South. In Michigan, for instance, 40,000 members lived in Detroit, where they made up more than half of the state’s membership. Most Klansmen were lower- to middle-class whites who were trying to protect their jobs and housing from the waves of newcomers to the industrial cities: immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, who tended to be Catholic and Jewish in numbers higher than earlier groups of immigrants; and black and white migrants from the South. As new populations poured into cities, rapidly changing neighborhoods created social tensions.

“I’m a fast-talkin’-city-slicker/con man/Klansman/psychopath/Homeric cyclops. People like me were an important part of the sociopolitical fabric of depression-era America.”

From History.com:

Though Congress passed legislation designed to curb Klan terrorism, the organization saw its primary goal–the reestablishment of white supremacy–fulfilled through Democratic victories in state legislatures across the South in the 1870s. After a period of decline, white Protestant nativist groups revived the Klan in the early 20th century, burning crosses and staging rallies, parades and marches denouncing immigrants, Catholics, Jews, blacks and organized labor.

They could’t kill Big Dan with the flag…

From Wikipedia:

Many groups and leaders, including prominent Protestant ministers such as Reinhold Niebuhr in Detroit, spoke out against the Klan. The Jewish Anti-Defamation League was formed in the early 20th century after the lynching of Leo Frank, and in response to attacks against Jewish Americans and the Klan’s campaign to outlaw private schools. Opposing groups worked to penetrate the Klan’s secrecy. After one civic group began to publish Klan membership lists, there was a rapid decline in members. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People created public education campaigns in order to inform people about Klan activities and lobbied in Congress against Klan abuses. After its peak in 1925, Klan membership in most areas began to decline rapidly.

…so instead they killed him with the cross.

Additional artistic cross-pollination (from a depression-era film, of course):

In keeping with the whole American Odyssey mythopoeia thing, world famous bluegrass musician Ralph Stanley performs the traditional Appalachian (say it with me “Apple-ATCH-un”) dirge “O Death” (red robes mean his character is a Kleagle; the same rank as democratic Senator Robert Byrd when he was in the Klan). There’s also a pretty fantastic live version from the 2002 Grammies.

This. This is why I love (the) Coen Brothers(‘) movies.