Return to the Land, a “whites only” community based out of Arkansas, has talked to many outlets about plans to potentially create a new community to the Springfield area; However, many of the city’s residents are not inclined to welcome them here.
According to the community’s website, they are a private member association exclusively made for white people, and that they vet member through an application process based on European ancestry.
Springfield residents say that it isn’t good for a “melting pot” city like Springfield to have non-inclusive groups like Return to the Land to locate to the area.
Missouri State Representative Betsy Fogle has spoken out against the association’s potential location to Missouri, saying she’s been silent for too long and that there’s no room in the city for a group that “sets us back decades” with their perceivably racist agendas akin to segregation.
The group says that they are only based on “shared ancestral values” and that they don’t believe in hatred or violence against those of other cultures.
Fogle also said that if the group ends up locating to Missouri, there would be a legislative conversation about the legality of communities like Return to the Land.
Photo courtesy of the Missouri House of Representatives.