A group of white Americans, members of the Return to The Land organization, established a “whites-only” community in northeast Arkansas. This is not a historical narrative, but one unfolding in the modern era. The construction of this community is a reminder that, despite the Fair Housing Act of 1968, racism still affects where Black people can live. Leaders of this ethnonationalist group believe they’ve found a way around civil rights legislation. Rather than relying upon racially restrictive covenants and redlining, which are now illegal, they’ve created a private membership association to limit access to land. This is an effort to “control…who [their] neighbors are.” While this may appear benign when we consider this is taking place in a scarcely populated rural area, it opens the door for “whites-only” communities to spread throughout the country. Indeed, Eric Orwoll, a cofounder of the Return to the Land movement, said, “You want a white nation? Build a white town… it can be done. We’re doing it.” While the group claims its goal is to preserve the culture of white Americans, the echoes of Jim Crow are far too loud to ignore.
It’s no secret to many Black Americans that opposition to diversity serves as a thin veil for racism. But some have been less willing to concede this point. Indeed, many conservatives claimed these programs extended opportunities to unqualified candidates, heavily implying that anyone darker than a brown paper bag isn’t deserving. Yet, in a Return To The Land newsletter, representatives exposed the true intent of the anti-DEI movement, stating, “the general public has forced diversity upon us for decades.” This suggests that this group opposes integration. And since they cannot turn back the hands of time, and re-instate segregation across the nation, they’re fleeing even further than the suburbs, into rural, undeveloped areas, to avoid having a Black or Brown neighbor. This is no different than white people in the 1960s fighting to maintain segregation.
A Sky News documentary recently provided an insider’s look into the “whites-only” community in Arkansas. In addition to the openly racist statements made by leaders, I found a response from a white woman, a waitress working at a nearby restaurant, jarring. While she did not live in the settlement, she shared her opinion with Tom Cheshire, the reporter assigned to the case. Although she had no plans to join them, she claimed the group had “a right” to form this community. Though unsurprising, it is concerning that some white folks are willing to sit silently by as segregated communities are formed. It puts a fine point on the dangers of so-called color-blind racial attitudes, because those who claim they do not see race will not acknowledge the harm of racism.
At times, white people openly discriminate against Black people and other marginalized groups, but they also use subtler tactics. For example, the civil rights division of the Department of Justice noted that providers often “disguise their discrimination by giving false information about availability of housing, either saying that nothing was available or steering home seekers to certain areas based on race.” Recently, I wrote about an essay discussing how homeowners' associations and gated communities are used to maintain de-facto segregation. However, this community in Arkansas employed an entirely different method—one more Americans should be aware of. Since all applicants must be approved by a private board, they believe they can deny racial minority applicants. Whether they will face any legal challenges has yet to be determined. While it’s unlikely that any Black families would want to live near openly racist residents, we cannot ignore the implications—that this could be ground zero for a resegregation effort.
Of course, there will be those who would rather draw a parallel to Black people forming their own communities to the harm caused by white people engaging in the practice. Let’s address that point so it no longer serves as a distraction. Racial segregation policies were the result of white southerners refusing to live alongside Black people and share public resources. This was not a decision made between two groups with equal social, economic, and political power. Therefore, it’s unfair and ahistorical to suggest that Black people, who built communities to escape racial persecution, were perpetuating discrimination against others. These false equivalencies only distort the harmful reality.
For instance, the Treme is the oldest Black neighborhood in the country. The first Black resident to live there was an African man named Louis Congo. As a condition of his freedom, the Company of the Indies forced him to serve as an executioner in Orleans and Tchoupitoulas, a profession that allowed him to earn money, which he used to buy property. But he would be the first of many. By the 1800s, free people of color in New Orleans “owned about 80% of the land in the Treme community.” However, they did not own every lot, nor did the residents establish rules to keep White people from moving there. Similarly, Freedom, Georgia, an all-Black community founded in 2020, was not created to exclude others. On the contrary, it was designed to be a self-sustained community. And unlike the “whites-only” group in Arkansas, residents of Freedom, such as Dr. Tabitha Ball, a clinical psychologist, emphasized they’re “not preaching separation and we’re not preaching segregation.”
Some brushed off the formation of a “whites-only” community in the Ozark Mountains as insignificant, with some assuming it’s a one-hit-wonder. However, the private member association views their Arizona settlement—which has gained public attention—as a flagship, serving as a model for others to establish elsewhere. Reports suggest they plan to expand first into Missouri. The Return to The Land organization has openly encouraged others to start their own “whites-only” communities wherever they live. They even provided a step-by-step guide on how to do so in one post, including legal advice and a link to apply for membership. The message on the wall is clear—if more White people embrace this white settlement concept, it signals that the nation is returning to its shameful past, where the color of someone’s skin formally determined where they could or couldn’t live. This echoes the racial discrimination enforced during the Jim Crow era.
Part of the problem is that many believe racial progress is inevitable. But, as Ibram X. Kendi wrote in the second-to-last chapter of The 1619 Project, “the long sweep of America has been defined by two forward motions: one force widening the embrace of Black Americans and another force maintaining or widening their exclusion. The duel between these two forces represents the duel at the heart of America’s racial hierarchy.” We see this phenomenon play out in the modern era. A whites-only community being constructed in 2025 certainly sheds light on that irony. While many feel we are far from Jim Crow, this is a façade when considering the ideology of some Americans who, six decades after the civil rights era, are exploring ways to re-segregate society. If we’re ever to make lasting progress, we must remember this nation is not destined to achieve forward momentum. Indeed, only the persistence of well-intentioned people can make a dent in the problem.
While the Return to The Land movement is at this time creating a white community, leaders of the group have a broader goal in mind — turning America into a “white nation.” However, this is not a morally viable or economically sustainable plan. Even if more people join their ethnonationalist movement, prohibiting racial minorities from living near them, they won’t disappear. Between the Indigenous people who were here before European colonizers, the descendants of enslaved Africans, and immigrants of every hue, this is a racially and ethnically diverse nation. Rather than embracing that reality and breaking harmful cycles, many rather run in circles, repeating the same mistakes made in the past, segregation being a prime example.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of Allison Gaines' work on Medium.