Inside a group's push for whites-only communities "heritage communities"
A white separatist group is openly planning a network of whites-only settlements across rural America that aim to withstand legal challenges by operating essentially as private clubs.Why it matters: The communities are launching in the Ozarks, Appalachia and the South as the Trump administration has backed off prosecuting many civil rights cases.They're also surfacing at a time when the nation is becoming increasingly diverse, and as the racist "great replacement theory" has become a staple of far-right politics in recent years.The big picture: For nearly three years, state and federal authorities have largely watched from the sidelines as the separatist group Return to the Land (RTTL) unveiled plans and took applications for residents.Those plans amount to intentionally challenging the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which banned discrimination in housing. They've been inspired partly by recent decisions by the conservative-led U.S.
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A white separatist group is openly planning a network of whites-only settlements across rural America that aim to withstand legal challenges by operating essentially as private clubs.Why it matters: The communities are launching in the Ozarks, Appalachia and the South as the Trump administration has backed off prosecuting many civil rights cases.They're also surfacing at a time when the nation is becoming increasingly diverse, and as the racist "great replacement theory" has become a staple of far-right politics in recent years.The big picture: For nearly three years, state and federal authorities have largely watched from the sidelines as the separatist group Return to the Land (RTTL) unveiled plans and took applications for residents.Those plans amount to intentionally challenging the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which banned discrimination in housing. They've been inspired partly by recent decisions by the conservative-led U.S. Supreme Court and the Trump administration's reversal of much of President Lyndon Johnson's civil rights legacy.Catch up quick: RTTL established a 160-acre, whites-only community near Ravenden, Ark., in late 2023.Using an AI-generated corporate framework discovered on 4chan, the founders structured the community as a "private membership association" linked to a for-profit LLC, according to court documents.They boast that this dual structure creates a loophole that allows them to bypass requirements of the Fair Housing Act and explicitly filter their neighbors by race and religion.The group said work has begun on a second site in Arkansas, and it's planning more projects in the Ozarks, the South and Appalachia.Zoom in: RTTL's website states that it "help[s] groups of our members form European heritage communities."It seeks to create "a decentralized movement" and aims "to create many independent and fully functioning parallel societies."The group also helps people and groups with "common ancestry" purchase rural land.By the numbers: About 40 people, including roughly a dozen home-schooled children, now live in the compound in Ravenden on land purchased for $237,000.An application fee for the private membership association costs $25, after which members undergo background checks and share information about their ethnic background.RTTL had raised more than $200,000 as of May 2026, including $105,158 for additional chapters and $94,401 for legal-framework research, court records show. In interviews with media outlets and alt-right leaning influencers, RTTL founder Eric Orwoll has referenced Hitler, said the community had a "pretty good radar" for excluding Jews and called himself a "white identitarian.""You're going to get Hitler 2.0 when you deserve him.
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- What's the story?
- A white separatist group is openly planning a network of whites-only settlements across rural America that aim to withstand legal challenges by operating essentially as private clubs.Why it matters: The communities are launching in the Ozarks, Appalachia and the South as the Trump administration has backed off prosecuting many civil rights cases.They're also surfacing at a time when the nation is becoming increasingly diverse, and as the racist "great replacement theory" has become a staple of far-right politics in recent years.The big picture: For nearly three years, state and federal authorities have largely watched from the sidelines as the separatist group Return to the Land (RTTL) unveiled plans and took applications for residents.Those plans amount to intentionally challenging the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which banned discrimination in housing. They've been inspired partly by recent decisions by the conservative-led U.S.
- How widely is it covered?
- 1 outlet, average source rating 7.0/10.
- When was it last updated?
- 5m ago.
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Inside a group's push for whites-only communities "heritage communities"
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