Hanging has by no means been the province of American Westerns. Consider:
“Hanging was one of the modes of execution under ancient Roman law, and it was subsequently derived by the Anglo-Saxons from their Germanic ancestors. It was the prescribed mode of punishment for homicide in England by the 12th century, and in time it came to supersede all other forms of capital punishment for felony convictions until the abolition of capital punishment in Great Britain in 1965. Public hangings were held in England until 1868, when they were removed to prisons.
“Hanging became the standard mode of execution throughout the British Empire and wherever else the Anglo-American common law was adopted. It also came into use in Russia, Austria, Hungary, and Japan. Hanging was the preeminent means of execution in the United States until the mid-20th century.”
—Encyclopaedia Britannica
Is someone proposing to go through the entire repertoire of film imagery—and, I suppose, of still imagery as well—and purge it of any reference to this ancient means of execution? Or is this just an extreme and absurd hypothetical?
Whatever a person’s position may be on legal or even illegal execution, I don’t think it can be argued that the gallows and the noose throughout history stand for the systematic oppression and persecution of any particular population.