Civil Rights Organizations File Lawsuit Against Whites-Only Housing Development in Arkansas

Read a PDF of our statement here.

Today, the Legal Defense Fund joined Relman Colfax PLLC and Legal Aid of Arkansas to file a lawsuit against Return to the Land (RTTL), a white nationalist organization seeking to establish a segregated, whites-only settlement in Arkansas. The lawsuit is brought on behalf of Michelle Walker, a woman of Jewish ancestry who is married to a Black man and has biracial children. The complaint alleges that RTTL discriminated against Walker by denying her the opportunity to purchase land because of her Jewish ancestry and her family's racial background.

RTTL is a white separatist organization attempting to create an all-white nation within the United States by building smaller settlements that exclude anyone who isn't a white, Christian, heterosexual homebuyer. Its founders believe white people are genetically superior to all other races and advance the view that Jewish people are engaged in a plot to eliminate the white race.

In the summer of 2025, Walker learned that RTTL was offering land for sale in Arkansas at an exceptionally low price. Interested in the investment potential of the land, she applied to purchase land in the RTTL community. Throughout the application process, Walker was asked a series of questions about her ancestry and religion, as well as that of her husband and children. According to the complaint, RTTL ultimately denied Walker's application because of her religion, ancestry, and the race of her family members, which are incompatible with RTTL's goal of establishing an all-white community.

The complaint seeks to stop RTTL's discriminatory housing practices and obtain relief for violations of the Fair Housing Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 1981, 1982, and 1985, the Arkansas Fair Housing Act, and the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993.

"Return to the Land's actions constitute blatant and brazen violations of long-standing federal and state fair housing laws," said Reed Colfax, Co-Managing Partner at Relman Colfax. "Ms. Walker has been deprived of her housing and civil rights, including the right to purchase land and build housing."

"This lawsuit sends the message to RTTL and any other white separatist organizations seeking to perpetuate segregation-the rule of law remains intact. Our nation will not abandon the fair housing rights we have fought so hard to uphold and enforce," said John Relman, Founding Partner of Relman Colfax.

"A community grounded in the exclusion of people based on their race and religion cannot be squared with the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws that have been in place for decades," said Jason Bailey, Senior Counsel at the Legal Defense Fund. "Return to the Land is attempting to revive housing policies and practices from one of America's darkest eras, and we will fight to ensure this does not stand."

"A whites-only community is illegal, discriminatory, and unacceptable," said Lee Richardson, Executive Director of Legal Aid of Arkansas.

Read the full brief here.

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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation's first civil rights legal organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF's archive. In all media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and refer to the Institute as LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.