The Real-Life Court Case that Inspired Watchmen’s ‘Redfordations’

In 1921, hundreds of Tulsa residents died in what became known as the Tulsa Race Riots , a confrontation between black and white residents of Tulsa following false allegations against a black man. Thousands of white citizens, bearing arms, exchanged fire with a group of black residents gathered to protect the imprisoned man from lynching. The incident is considered one of the worst instances of racial violence in American history .

In 2003, on behalf of some 200 survivors and descendants , a legal team composed of Americas top tort and civil rights lawyersincluding Johnnie Cochran, who famously defended O.J. Simpson sued the state of Oklahoma and the city of Tulsa for the incident.

After the airing of Watchmen's third episode, HBO launched the first episode of the show's official podcast, where Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin asks tough questions and gets good answers out of showrunner Damon Lindelof. Of course, on the podcast, the topic of Redfordations came up, and Lindelof talked about the legal suit that inspired the show's plotline, and its importance for Watchmen:

[The lawsuit] made it all the way up to, I believe, the Oklahoma state court, and it got tossed for reasons of standing. That actually happened in real life . They made the argument that the statute of limitations had run out, and also that the descendants were not traumatized by the initial trauma. So we basically said: if Johnnie Cochran did the same thing in Redfords America, maybe his Supreme Court would hear that case vs the real Supreme Court that didnt hear it .

That decision changes almost everything in the Watchmen universe. Lindelof goes on to explain how the mandate of that fictional hearing also provided reparations to survivors of Japanese internment camps during the Second World War, as well as Native American tribes and decedents. Since this all happened under president Robert Redford, it became known as Redfordations.

Redfordations would be a contentious phenomenon, and it has been clear since the first episode that not everyone is on boardeven kids in a grade school classroom seem to insinuate the acts perceived 'unfairness,' and also how it's existence seems to be used as a dog whistle for racial prejudice. This reaction may be more widely explored as we learn about the Seventh Kavalry , the Rorschach-mask-wearing, KKK-influenced white supremacist group stirring up violence. However the series plays out, its safe to assume Redfordations, and the alternate history of Supreme Court decisions, will be at the heart of its ideological tensions.