On Return to the Land

Eric Orwoll’s Return to the Land project has been getting a lot of attention.

For those of you who haven’t heard about this, we are talking about an LLC that exists on 160 acres of private land in the Ozarks near Ravenden in northeast Arkansas. It has attracted about 40 idealistic people from around the country who are living there in tiny homes, tents and campers and who are relying on well water and growing their own food. The idea is to create a White intentional community that skirts fair housing laws and which can become a model for similar settlements in other states.

Jonesboro Sun:

“The wooded hills outside Ravenden in neighboring Lawrence County have become the focus of growing concern as reports confirm the development of a whites-only community known as Return to the Land, a project led by self-described identitarians Eric Orwoll and Peter Csere.

Operating under the name Wisdom Woods LLC, the group is building what it calls a “parallel society” on 160 acres of privately owned land in Sharp County. Public business filings show the organization’s address listed as 480 Browns Creek Road. The property currently includes tents, campers and portable buildings, with some residents living in small structures and relying on well water, outhouses and homegrown food.

Civil rights watchdogs, including the Anti-Defamation League, warn the group may be violating federal housing discrimination laws by restricting membership and residency based explicitly on race. The group’s published materials state that only white applicants of European descent may join, with Jewish and nonwhite individuals banned entirely. Applicants must submit to interviews and written ancestry verification before being accepted. …”

I’m skeptical of this idea.

I want to learn more though before forming a firm opinion.