Lawsuit papers filed in federal court in Arkansas accuse Return to the Land of rejecting a woman’s application for land in a development by tying the decision to the applicant’s religion, ancestry and family. The suit, filed on behalf of Michelle Walker, contends that she was questioned during the application process about her ancestry and religion before she was denied the opportunity to purchase.
Walker’s complaint says the organization required “personally” confirming that applicants are white before they are accepted, and it argues that the group’s stated mission and screening practices amount to efforts to build an all-white community. The suit names Return to the Land, the group’s Ozarks chapter and five officers, according to Associated Press reporting by Corey Williams.
The legal filing also describes Return to the Land founders as advocating racial segregation and promoting beliefs described in the lawsuit as tied to race “genetically” and to a perceived threat aimed at white people. The lawsuit includes a quote characterizing the founders’ outlook, saying they believe white people are “genetically superior” and that Jewish people are engaged in a plot to eliminate the white race.
In that same allegation, the lawsuit says the founders advocate for “segregated white communities” with the goal of creating a separate all-white nation state, quoting the filing’s reference to avoiding “white genocide.” The complaint further frames Return to the Land as a white nationalist organization and says its efforts violate federal and state fair housing and civil rights laws.
According to the lawsuit, Walker is white and is affiliated with a Christian church, and her Jewish ancestry is on her mother’s side. The complaint also says she has a Black husband and biracial children, and that the organization’s application questions included her family, ancestry and religion.
Walker lives in St. Louis and applied last year to purchase land in Ravenden, Arkansas, which the Associated Press described as about 150 miles northeast of Little Rock and just south of the Missouri state line. The suit says she sought to buy land because of its below-market price.
The complaint comes amid broader concerns about housing discrimination in the United States, including practices such as racial covenants in older mortgages and leases and redlining, in which mortgages and loans were denied based on race, the Associated Press reported. In its reporting, AP said Return to the Land did not respond to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit.
In addition to the litigation, Return to the Land’s public messaging has faced political and local pushback. The Associated Press reported that, after reports about the group seeking to develop a whites-only community in the Springfield, Missouri, area, the city council responded with a statement posted on Facebook saying there was no place in the city “or anywhere” for what it described as a divisive and discriminatory vision.
The Associated Press also reported that Pennsylvania’s House passed a bill in April by a 101-100 vote that would block the creation of whites-only housing communities. It said the legislation is now before the Pennsylvania Senate.