Return to – A Jewish woman married to a Black man and raising biracial children says an Arkansas land development refused to sell her property because of her religion and her family’s racial background. The federal lawsuit, filed May 20 in the Eastern District of Arkansas
The silence after an application decision is rarely just paperwork. For Michelle Walker, the refusal came with ancestry and religion questions she says were meant to screen her out—until a denied “fit” turned into a federal discrimination lawsuit.
Walker, who identifies as White and Christian and lives in the St. Louis area, applied in 2025 to buy land in an Arkansas community run by Return to the Land. The organization’s Ozarks chapter is based near Ravenden. a town about 150 miles northeast of Little Rock. and just south of the Missouri-Arkansas state border.
On May 20, civil rights groups filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. The case was brought by the Legal Defense Fund, the Relman Colfax law firm and Legal Aid of Arkansas on Walker’s behalf.
The complaint says Return to the Land, its Ozarks chapter and five officers discriminated against Walker by “refusing to sell her land on the basis of race and religion.” Walker is of Jewish ancestry and is married to a Black man; the lawsuit says their children are biracial.
The groups behind the filing describe Return to the Land as a White nationalist organization. They accuse it of “building smaller settlements that exclude anyone who isn’t a white. Christian. heterosexual homebuyer.” In the lawsuit. the organizations also cite the belief attributed to the group’s founders that White people are genetically superior to other races. The complaint further alleges that the group advances the view that Jewish people are engaged in a plot to eliminate the White race and advocates for segregated White communities to support what it characterizes as a separate all-White nation state aimed at avoiding “white genocide.”.
During Walker’s application process. the lawsuit says she was asked questions about her ancestry. religion and the background of her family members. She told the application she belongs to a Christian church. that her Jewish ancestry is on her mother’s side. that her husband is Black. and that their children are biracial. according to the complaint.
It was also not just the written questions. The complaint says Walker was later interviewed by a member of the Return to the Land community, who allegedly asked whether she belonged to “any other white nationalist organizations.”
Walker says she went into the process understanding she was looking at an opportunity because she learned the group was selling land at an “exceptionally low” price and she was interested in the “investment potential of the land.” Her application was ultimately denied.
According to the lawsuit, Walker’s application portal stated that she was “not accepted as she was not an ideal fit.” Her attorney argues the questions and denial violate housing protections that prevent race and religion from being considered in land-sale decisions.
In a statement on May 20. Walker’s attorney. Reed Colfax. said Return to the Land’s actions amount to “blatant and brazen violations of long-standing federal and state fair housing laws.” The complaint alleges Walker suffered economic damage and emotional distress after being denied the opportunity to purchase land and build a home.
Return to the Land is listed in the lawsuit as operating through its Arkansas community and Ozarks chapter. The organization describes itself on its website as a private membership association for “individuals and families with traditional views and common continental ancestry. ” and says it has regional chapters across the United States. The Ozarks chapter, according to the organization’s materials, covers parts of Arkansas, Missouri and eastern Oklahoma.
The complaint says the group only allows White people with “European ancestry” to buy land or live in the Arkansas community.
One of the suit’s named defendants is a founder, Eric Orwoll. He is cited in the lawsuit as having previously told the New York Times that Return to the Land would screen applicants to make sure they are White. Orwoll also told the Times the development would qualify for exemptions to housing law for private or religious groups that give preference to their own members when offering housing. and he said the group’s “cultural and legal climate” could lead to a more favorable outcome if legal challenges arise.
In that account, Orwoll said, “Seeing someone who doesn’t present as White might lead us to, among other things, not admit that person.”
The legal claims focus on federal and state fair housing protections. The complaint alleges Walker’s treatment violates federal and state fair housing acts and several civil rights laws. It asks the court to halt the alleged practices and to provide relief for the violations.
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race or color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability. It was enacted into law in 1968 and applies to landlords, real estate companies and other entities that provide housing. The law was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson a week after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and was designed to address segregation in housing embedded in American life. according to the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s description on its website.
The DOJ and related reporting emphasize that discrimination remains persistent. In 2024. private nonprofit fair housing organizations and government agencies received over 32. 000 discrimination complaints. according to a report by the National Fair Housing Alliance. The majority—over 54%—were related to disability, and the next largest complaint category was race (15.58%).
States have also been seeking additional enforcement tools. In March. 15 states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over new guidelines issued to housing agencies nationwide. which the states said weakened fair housing protections and made it harder to hold landlords accountable for discrimination.
Jason Bailey. senior counsel at the Legal Defense Fund. said in a statement that a community “grounded in the exclusion of people based on their race and religion” does not fit the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws. He added. “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.”.
Return to the Land has not yet responded in court documents. Walker’s case lands at a time when fair housing rules are being challenged on multiple fronts—through enforcement decisions, policy guidelines, and, now, the basic question of who is allowed to buy a home in the first place.
For Walker, the stakes are personal and immediate: land, a home she hoped to build, and the sense that the law she believed would protect her was not enough to stop her exclusion.
Arkansas fair housing discrimination lawsuit Return to the Land Michelle Walker Jewish ancestry Black husband biracial children Legal Defense Fund Relman Colfax Legal Aid of Arkansas Fair Housing Act Ravenden Ozarks chapter