Federal Lawsuit Challenges Whites-Only Arkansas Settlement Over Rejected Applicant

A federal lawsuit has been filed against Return to the Land after the group rejected a practicing Christian with Russian-Jewish ancestry who applied to buy property at its whites-only settlement near Ravenden, Arkansas. The applicant was turned away after disclosing her heritage, her marriage to a Black man, and her biracial children.

The group purchased the Ravenden land for $237,000, court records show.

Approximately 40 people, including roughly a dozen home-schooled children, now live in the compound. Return to the Land charges a $25 application fee for its private membership association and has raised more than $200,000 as of May 2026, including $105,158 for additional chapters and $94,401 for legal-framework research. Work has begun on a second site in Arkansas.

The group is also planning projects in the Ozarks, the South, and Appalachia. It is structured as a private membership association linked to a for-profit LLC that uses an AI-generated corporate framework. The lawsuit alleges that Return to the Land founders intend to build small whites-only neighborhoods and scale them quickly into settlements of up to 50,000 people and eventually cities of thousands.

In a video posted on X, founder Orwoll said, "You're going to get Hitler 2.0 when you deserve him. He's not just going to show up to a people that aren't putting in the work themselves. " Jeff LeMaster, spokesperson for Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, stated that the office began looking into the development after receiving complaints last year.

"We abhor racism, and it has no place in our society," LeMaster said. Stacy Seicshnaydre, a Tulane University Law School professor, said the Civil Rights Act of 1866 has zero exemptions and prohibits all racial and cultural discrimination. If the lawsuit reaches the discovery phase, it could expose Return to the Land's membership rules, land agreements, and plans for additional communities.