A group establishing a whites-only housing community in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas has been sued for alleged violations of fair housing laws. The lawsuit, filed by Michelle Walker in the Eastern District of Arkansas on Wednesday, marks the first civil case accusing the Return to the Land group of discrimination.
Lawsuit Details
According to the complaint, Walker sought to purchase land in the community last year and completed an application that inquired about her ancestry and religion. The lawsuit alleges that Return to the Land denied her application based on her religion, ancestry, and the race of her family members, which are incompatible with the group's goal of establishing an all-white community. Walker, who is of Jewish ancestry, is married to a Black man and has biracial children.
Walker's attorneys from Relman Colfax PLLC, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Legal Aid of Arkansas are seeking to stop the group's discriminatory housing practices. Reed Colfax, a co-managing partner at Relman Colfax, stated: 'Ms. Walker has been deprived of her housing and civil rights, including the right to purchase land and build housing.' Lee Richardson, executive director of Legal Aid of Arkansas, added: 'A whites-only community is illegal, discriminatory, and unacceptable.'
Group's Response
Public records did not list an attorney for Return to the Land. When asked about the lawsuit, co-founder Eric Orwoll told The New York Times: 'It's not something we hadn't anticipated. This is going to be a competition between our right to freely associate and then civil rights laws, which seem contradictory to our claims.' Orwoll expressed confidence that the group would prevail, citing the First Amendment and the right to free association.
The Return to the Land community, located in Ravenden, Arkansas, had approximately 40 members as of last summer. Co-founder Orwoll previously stated that the group would not admit individuals who do not present as white. The lawsuit alleges that these actions constitute blatant violations of long-standing federal and state fair housing laws.
