Last month, the Jewish Light shared reporting from our national partners at The Forward that detailed the rise of a whites-only enclave in northeast Arkansas. That story, titled “No Jews allowed—just 222 miles from St. Louis, white supremacists build a ‘Christian nationalist’ town,” examined the efforts of a group called Return to the Land, which is establishing an off-grid community that, according to its own website and internal documents, bans Jews and non-white individuals.
Now, new reports suggest the group is setting its sights on Missouri—specifically, the Springfield area.
Whites-only enclave plans emerge in Springfield
The first public indication of Return to the Land’s plans came on July 22, when KOLR 10’s OzarksFirst.com reported that the group may be targeting the Springfield area for its next development. In that report, co-founder Eric Orwoll confirmed to the station that Missouri is under consideration. While the group hasn’t announced specific land purchases, it has described the move as being in the “initial planning process.”
Orwoll defended the group’s model in a written statement, saying, “Americans have the right to freely associate and form intentional communities on whatever basis they choose.” On its website, Return to the Land describes itself as a private membership association open only to people with “traditional values and European ancestry.”…