July 23, 2025
With Jewish people being banned from even the thought of obtaining a membership, the group’s website labels the goal as creating the next generation that promotes “traditional values.”
Eric Orwoll, co-founder of Return to the Land (RTL), a whites-only group based in northern Arkansas, is celebrating the group’s expansion to Springfield, Missouri, to “promote strong families with common ancestry,” Fox 2 Now reports.
The private member community, which is exclusively for whites, is looking to set up shop near a midwestern town while vetting members through an application process based on European ancestry. With Jewish people banned from even the thought of obtaining a membership, the group’s website labels the goal as creating the next generation that promotes “traditional values.” “We seek to create a decentralized movement, formed of various individuals and societies returning to the land,” RTL’s website says.
“We will promote strong families with common ancestry and raise the next generation in an environment that reflects our traditional values.”
Orwoll’s home base in northern Arkansas has been in development since 2023 on 160 acres. The area became the target due to its “affordable land, natural beauty, abundant water resources, and a conservative, predominantly white population.” But the leader’s inspiration came from Orania, South Africa — also known as an exclusive white Afrikaner settlement. According to Reuters, close to 3,000 people live in Orania, started by a group of white Afrikaners who were so opposed to the majority Black rule established with the end of apartheid 30 years ago.
Today, the town is singled out with all residents, including menial workers, being white.
Orwoll visited the town and called their whites-only way of life “extraordinary.” “You should realize how special it is and how important it is,” he said in a video posted to X in January 2025.
“And you’re not just leading the way for Afrikaners, you are leading the way for especially European people all around the world. But more at a larger scale, any group who wants to define their own future, you are showing the way.”
However, his plan could be a dream deferred as the group’s ideology has received some backlash from state officials and law enforcement.
Some groups claim the movement should be deemed illegal since it promotes segregation, and there are laws in place, such as the Arkansas Fair Housing Act and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, that prohibit such acts. “We urge the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission, local elected officials, and law enforcement to act swiftly to ensure that Northeast Arkansas remains a welcome and inclusive community, not a refuge for intolerance and exclusion,” Lindsay Baach Friedmann, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) South Central, said in a statement.
However, white people aren’t the only demographic seeking a change of scenery to preserve their traditions. A 2020 report highlighted an opportunity in Wilkinson County, roughly two hours from Atlanta, where 19 Black families pooled their money to purchase nearly 97 acres of land to escape the everyday racism prevalent in America.
RELATED CONTENT: HEROES IRL: Black Couple Detains Suspected Arsonist In Runyon Canyon, 6 Months After California Wildfire Aftermath
