The opening episode of new HBO original series Watchmen - a sequel to the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons comic series of the same name - began with some nail-biting and horrific scenes.

The episode, entitled It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice, began with scenes of a young African-American boy in 1921 watching his favourite black-and-white movie whilst his mother played the piano.

However, he and his parents were forced to flee as a horrific massacre unfolded in the hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The group attempted to escape the fiery and bloody massacre being perpetrated by a white mob, with a young boy hiding inside the carriage his family escaped in before it is blown apart in the attack.

The boy woke up in the wreckage to find both of his parents dead, but found a living African-American baby which he picked up and walked away to safety with.

However, were the scenes depicted in the new superhero series based on reality?

Sadly, this was very much a real event.

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Image:
United States Library of Congress)

The Tulsa Massacre took pace on May 31 and June 1, 1921 in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the United States of America.

In what was described as "the single worst incident of racial violence in American history", the slaughter saw white residents attack black residents and businesses of the area that had been dubbed "Black Wall Street" due to it being the wealthiest black community in the country.

It is estimated that between 100 and 300 people were killed, with countless more injured.

The incident that sparked the riots and violence was the arrest of black shoe-shiner Dick Rowland for the assault of white lift operator Sarah Page, prompting the rise of a white mob and rumours of Rowland being lynched prompting a clash with members of the local black population.

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Image:
United States Library of Congress)

When lives were lost from both groups when shots were fired, this sparked a rise in white mob violence.

Thousands of white people rampaged through the city - weaponised by city officials - killing many in their path and burning and looting homes, leaving around 10,000 black people homeless.

According to Red Cross estimates, some 1,256 houses were burned, while 215 others were looted but not torched. 

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Image:
United States Library of Congress)

Martial law was decreed when the National Guard arrived the morning after, but by then the damage was done.

They also arrested a large number of black Tulsan residents, with 6,000 under armed guard by June 2.

The massacre was largely unreported in the US and has remained under-represented in the annals of American history until recent times, highlighting an attempt to scrub the truth of what happened from the history books.

The massacre as depicted in Watchmen (2019) (
Image:
HBO)

In November 2018, however, the 1921 Race Riot Commission which investigated the horrors was officially renamed the 1921 Race Massacre Commission.

According to KHRJ, Oklahoma State Senator Kevin Matthews said: "Although the dialogue about the reasons and effects of the terms riot vs. massacre are very important and encouraged, the feelings and interpretation of those who experienced this devastation as well as current area residents and historical scholars have led us to more appropriately change the name to the 1921 Race Massacre Commission."

In Watchmen, which depicts an alternate history to our own, victims of the massacre have received reparations, to the anger of white supremacists, but this has yet to occur in the real world.

Additionally, the young boy depicted is an entirely fictional character to the televisions series.

Watchmen airs on Sky Atlantic and is available on NOW TV every Monday.