Eric Orwoll, co‑founder of Return to the Land (RTL), a whites‑only group in northern Arkansas, is planning to “promote strong families with common ancestry” as he expands into Springfield, Missouri, according to reports. 

RTL operates as a private member community, which is exclusively for whites, vetting applicants based on European ancestry and even excluding Jewish individuals. Their mission? To cultivate the next generation grounded in “traditional values,” as the website notes. 

Founded in 2023 on 160 acres in Arkansas—chosen for its “affordable land, natural beauty, abundant water resources, and a conservative, predominantly white population”—RTL draws ideological inspiration from Orania, a white separatist town in South Africa. Orwoll had visited Orania and admired their racially exclusive lifestyle. 

“Whites should have the ability to live among their own people if that’s what they want to do, and mass immigration is quickly making that nearly impossible in many Western nations,” Orwoll said. “If individuals decide to live in multi-racial communities, then they should be allowed to do so, but we don’t want racial forced on us in every aspect of life.”

However, RTL’s ambitions are facing scrutiny. 

The anti-defamation caught wind of the plans and released a statement on X this month, decrying the efforts. 

“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,” said Lindsay Baach Friedmann, regional director of the ADL South Central, in the X statement.

However, Orwoll is not backing down. 

“The attorneys we’ve consulted believe what we’re doing is legal,” Orwoll said. “Americans have the right to freely associate and form intentional communities on whatever basis they choose.”