A white separatist group known as "Return to the Land" is looking to expand its members-only community promoting "European ancestry" and "traditional values."
Founder Eric Orwoll told Nexstar's KOLR that he's hoping to franchise his 160-acre Arkansas-based community that excludes minorities and Jewish people, first into Missouri, then to all 50 states.
Orwoll said the initial draw to northern Arkansas was its “affordable land, natural beauty, abundant water resources and a conservative, predominantly white population.”
According to the group's website, they "seek to create a decentralized movement, formed of various individuals and societies returning to the land."
"We will promote strong families with common ancestry and raise the next generation in an environment that reflects our traditional values," the group said.
In a news release, the group said its membership reflected “'shared ancestral values,' not hatred or violence," according to KOLR.
The Anti-Defamation League denounced the group, saying it revived “discredited and reprehensible forms of segregation.” The ADL added that the group "should also be illegal under the Arkansas Fair Housing Act, the Fair Housing Act of 1968, as well as other federal and state civil rights laws."
But Orwoll countered that the group is a "private association that doesn’t sell real estate," and is therefore in accordance with the law.
“The attorneys we’ve consulted believe what we’re doing is legal,” Orwoll told KOLR. “Americans have the right to freely associate and form intentional communities on whatever basis they choose.”
He continued, "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. 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.”
