'Return to the land': Group sets up all-white town in Arkansas; civil rights activists raise alarm

Time of India

3 days ago

(Image credit: RTTL X handle)
An extremist ethnonationalist organisation has established an exclusively white settlement in a secluded area of northeastern Arkansas's Ozarks and is reportedly considering expansion into Missouri.
Return to the Land (RTTL), a self-described private membership association for people with "traditional views and European ancestry," launched its initial community in Arkansas in October 2023 and is now planning to enter Missouri, likely near Springfield, according to NBC affiliate KSNT.
The organisation rejects mass immigration, multiculturalism and "forced integration" and excludes non-white, non-Christian and LGBT+ individuals, stating its members aim to distance themselves from contemporary society in favour of rural living.
"You want a white nation? Build a white town?" RTTL's co-founder Eric Orwoll asks in an X video promoting the initiative. "It can be done. We're doing it."
The organisation's primary settlement spans roughly 150 acres, houses 40 residents, and includes cabins, roads, wells, a community centre, and a schoolhouse.
A second location opened nearby in January 2024, with plans for another Ozarks site and potential expansion into the Appalachian mountains listed on their website.
In conversation with Sky News journalist Tom Cheshire, who visited RTTL's first settlement and observed activities including goat milk production, flute performances, family sports and swimming, Orwoll expressed longing for 17th-century colonial America.
"I would probably feel more comfortable there because I'm white and that's the way this country was when my ancestors came there," he remarked, disregarding the indigenous population displaced by colonisation," he said.
"Even if an individual has all the same values that I have, if they have an ethnic identity that other people share and care about, their children will also have that identity, and their children might not necessarily have all the same beliefs that they have," Cheshire further added.
Regarding RTTL's growth plans, he said, "I would like to have more communities so that people in all parts of the U.S. have this as an option if they want.
I would also like us to network and branch out internationally."
Their expansion efforts include online fundraising, including a campaign offering financial incentives to parents of newborns to encourage population growth, which had reached half of its $10,000 target.
Despite promoting rural living, RTTL maintains an active social media presence, sharing construction updates, nature photography, and children's book illustrations to promote their pastoral vision.
Orwoll, who presents his project as a matter of First Amendment rights and private property freedom, has invested significantly in legal research. "The attorneys we've consulted believe what we're doing is legal," he told KSNT. "Americans have the right to freely associate and form intentional communities on whatever basis they choose."
He believes RTTL's private membership association status exempts it from anti-discrimination laws like the Civil Rights Act and Fair Housing Act, though legal experts dispute this interpretation.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin responded, "Racial discrimination has no place in Arkansas or anywhere in a free society. These allegations raise all sorts of legal issues, including constitutional concerns. My office is reviewing the matter."
Barry Jefferson, Arkansas NAACP chapter president, said: "I just truly believe that we don't need to get back to the Jim Crow era. We've been through that before. I think no one should be discriminated against because of their skin colour.
"If you really look deep into the Civil Rights Act, it doesn't state that. I think they're misunderstanding what it states because there have been many organisations that tried to carve that out. That's not right," he added.
The Anti-Defamation League has directly criticised RTTL, stating it attempts to resurrect "discredited and reprehensible forms of segregation."
When questioned about racist elements within his organisation, including white supremacist content in its Telegram channel and his views on Adolf Hitler's "second coming," Orwoll maintained that conventional perspectives on the Nazi leader are "one-sided" and influenced by wartime propaganda.
"I think all historical figures are complex, multi-dimensional," he said.
"But when I say, 'you're gonna have to wait for that new Hitler to arise', I'm not saying you're going to have to wait for a new person to start a new Holocaust," Orwoll further said, adding to his statement that, "I am saying you are going to wait for a charismatic leader who is going to advocate for your interests because that's how a lot of people see Hitler."