A real estate broker says an organization denied her the opportunity to purchase land in an Arkansas development because of her Jewish ancestry, and because she has a Black husband and biracial children, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court.The lawsuit, filed in Arkansas on behalf of Michelle Walker, names Return to the Land, a development whose owners have said they must personally confirm that applicants are white before they are accepted, its Ozarks chapter and five officers. It says Return to the Land founders are “explicitly attempting to establish an all-white community.”The lawsuit also calls Return to the Land a white nationalist organization and says it’s in violation of federal and state fair housing and civil rights acts.“Its founders believe that white people are genetically superior to other races, advance the view that Jewish people are engaged in a plot to eliminate the white race, and advocate for segregated white communities for the purpose of creating a separate all-white nation state that will help avoid ‘white genocide,’” the lawsuit said.
For decades, Blacks and other minorities were restricted from buying or renting homes in some neighborhoods or areas due to racial covenants built into mortgages and leases. Prospective homebuyers also faced redlining in which mortgages and loans were denied based on race.
