In Ravenden, Arkansas, a group of homesteaders is constructing a white-only community called Return to the Land. Applicants are subjected to an in-person interview, background checks, and scrutiny of their ancestral heritage. Founders Eric Orwoll and Peter Csere aim to confirm applicants' whiteness. They believe their community may exploit legal exemptions for private associations while testing antidiscrimination housing laws. The founders' views reflect a broader rise in far-right ideology, with current political trends providing opportunities for such exclusivity to flourish.
"Seeing someone who doesn't present as white might lead us to, among other things, not admit that person," said Eric Orwoll, a founder of the community.
The community's founders believe they can win a legal challenge against antidiscrimination housing laws in the current political climate.
Return to the Land is a community strictly for white, heterosexual people, which is testing housing laws established for 57 years.
The surge of far-right sentiment in the U.S. is influenced by white nationalists taking advantage of economic anxiety.
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