Missouri Faith Groups Reject Whites-Only Community Expansion Plans
Christian leaders from multiple denominations are speaking out against the possibility of a whites-only community coming to Southwest Missouri. A group called Return to the Land currently has two communities in northeast Arkansas, its website states.
“Return to the Land is a white-supremacist group that wants to create a European-only development in the Springfield area,” Susan Schmalzbauer, a United Methodist minister and interim executive director of Missouri Faith Voices, said, according to KY3 in Springfield. “We just want them to know that they don’t reflect our values, and that hate is not welcome in Greene County, and hate is not welcome in the state of Missouri.”
Return to the Land has not disclosed where in Missouri it wants to locate, but its website presents a multi-phase strategy for establishing whites-only communities throughout the Ozarks region, the Southeast and Appalachia.
“We believe that white Americans all over the country deserve to have our own spaces if that’s what we want to do in our private lives,” cofounder Eric Orwoll said in a social media post. “Return to the Land is not a supremacist group, it’s not a hate group, it’s not even a white-nationalist group. We are white identitarians. We value our identity and want to preserve it. That’s not hate; that is love for your own people.”
State Rep. Jerremy Dean from the Springfield area disagrees.
He’s a white nationalist trying to peddle racism in khakis instead of white pointy hood.
“Orwoll can dress it up however he wants — ‘white identitarian,’ ‘cultural preservationist,’ ‘patriot,’’’ he said, “But the truth is simple: He’s a white nationalist trying to peddle racism in khakis instead of white pointy hood. I’m not scared of people who don’t look like me. My population is the human population — not just white Missourians and certainly not just those with European ancestry.”
The unity exhibited among faith groups and government officials opposed to Return to the Land should inspire hope across the community, Schmalzbauer added. “This goes to the kind of core, bedrock beliefs of who we are,” she said. “We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper, and we are that because we have a creator and because all of us reflect God’s image.”
Recent weeks have seen a surge in public rallies and official statements denouncing the group’s intentions. On August 10, a broad coalition of faith leaders, including members of Missouri Faith Voices and the Springfield NAACP, gathered in downtown Springfield to reaffirm their opposition. The rally drew hundreds, with speakers from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities condemning the concept of a racially exclusive enclave and calling instead for “radical inclusion” and solidarity among all residents of Missouri.
Local and state lawmakers from both parties have also joined faith leaders in rejecting Return to the Land’s message. In late July, the Missouri House issued a bipartisan statement denouncing any attempt to establish a whites-only community, with several representatives calling for stronger monitoring of land sales and organizational registrations associated with known hate groups. The Springfield City Council passed a formal resolution condemning the group’s rhetoric and urging residents to report any discriminatory activity to authorities, according to the Springfield Daily Citizen.
Despite initial reports that Return to the Land was seeking land in the Springfield area, the group now says it is exploring several locations across Missouri after encountering widespread pushback. “We are not moving to Springfield but are looking at other options for expansion in Missouri,” Orwoll said in a recent interview on Springfield television station KY3. Local reporting indicates that the group may be considering rural sites near the Ozarks and even some areas closer to St. Louis, but no official land purchase has been announce.
The ongoing controversy has brought together an unusually broad coalition of religious, civic, and political leaders in opposition. “This is not just about Springfield, and it’s not just about faith,” said Rev. Michelle Higgins, a Presbyterian pastor who attended the rally. “It’s about making it clear that Missouri stands for dignity and belonging for everyone, no matter their background or skin color.”
–Dwight Widaman
