‘Whites-only' community seeks Missouri expansion
The prospect of a growing 'whites-only' community — where members are evaluated based on European ancestry and where Jews are denied membership — is raising concerns among state and local officials and activist groups.
RTTL, which describes itself as a private member association, began development in 2023 on its base in northern Arkansas, which sits on 160 acres of land.
A co-founder of the group, Eric Orwoll, told Nexstar's KOLR that he hopes to expand soon to an area of land outside Springfield, and, eventually, expand to all 50 states.
'We want to ensure that White Americans who value their ancestry will have the ability to live among like-minded people in the future if they choose to do so, regardless of demographic changes,' Orwoll told the news outlet.
He said RTTL plans to coordinate homeschool groups, health care networks, legal advocacy groups and more — all of which would be barred to people of color.
'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,' he added.
Missouri Democrats are pushing back on the effort. Chelsea Rodriguez, communications director for the state Democratic Party, called RTTL a 'hate group' and said they won't be welcome.
'Missouri families are fed up with the fringe extremism Missouri Republicans keep inviting into their communities. If this hate group tries to relocate to Springfield, they shouldn't expect to be embraced,' Rodriguez said in a statement.
'Missouri Democrats have a clear message for any hate group eyeing our state: This is our home. We were raised here, and we share the same respect for the Constitution and Second Amendment as our neighbors. Your hate has no place in our home,' she continued.
State Rep. Jeremy Dean, a Democrat who represents part of Springfield in the Missouri House of Representatives, said he has 'no doubt' that groups like RTTL are 'emboldened by federal and state politicians who attack marginalized communities and fuel a climate where hate can grow.'
'Southwest Missouri has a racist past, but we've made progress and we're not going back. White nationalist groups have no place in our country, especially not here,' Dean added in a statement.
Another Missouri Democrat who represents part of Springfield in Jefferson City, state Rep. Betsy Fogle, said the 'blatant racism embraced by Mr. Orwoll's group' is not welcome in there.
'Southwest Missouri is too beautiful to be ruined by a worldview so ugly. History has been very clear about the outcomes of groups like Mr. Orwoll's who seek to leave behind others based on the color of their skin,' Fogle said in a statement.
'I refuse to let history repeat itself in my hometown and would ask my colleagues to do the same,' she added.
The group has faced pushback in Arkansas as well.
Lindsay Beach Friedmann, Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) regional director of the south central region, said the move 'revives discredited and reprehensible forms of segregation' and should be illegal under federal and state civil rights laws, as well as under the Arkansas Fair Housing Act and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
'We urge the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission, local elected officials, and law enforcement to act swiftly to ensure that Northeast Arkansas remains a welcoming and inclusive community, not a refuge for intolerance and exclusion,' the ADL said in a statement earlier this month.
Orwoll pushed back on the ADL's remarks, saying his group embraces a 'shared ancestral values' and not violence or hatred, according to KOLR.
He also brushed off concerns that the organization is breaking the law, noting RTTL is a private association and doesn't sell real estate.
'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.'
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) does not share that view.
'Racial discrimination has no place in Arkansas or anywhere in a free society. These allegations raise all sorts of legal issues, including constitutional concerns,' Griffin said in a statement. 'My office is reviewing the matter.'
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