In August, the Jewish Light reported that a whites-only housing group had begun eyeing Missouri for possible expansion. That story, titled “‘No Jews allowed’: Arkansas whites-only group eyes Springfield, Mo.,” examined the efforts of Return to the Land, which is establishing an off-grid community that, according to its own website and internal documents, bans Jews and non-white individuals.
The disclosure prompted swift responses from Springfield officials, bipartisan condemnation from Missouri lawmakers and an investigation by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who cited long-settled Supreme Court precedent barring racially discriminatory housing.
What began as a local concern in Missouri is now prompting legislative action in Pennsylvania, where lawmakers are moving to block racially exclusive housing schemes.
A Jewish Pennsylvania lawmaker has introduced legislation aimed at preventing Return to the Land and similar groups from claiming exemptions under state civil rights law to create racially exclusive housing developments.
State Rep. Ben Waxman, 40, represents a district that includes Center City and South Philadelphia. He is a member of Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel, a Conservative synagogue in Center City.
In a memo outlining the legislation, Waxman said the bill is intended to clarify that, under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, “bona fide private or fraternal organizations do not include groups that restrict membership based on race, color, national origin or ancestry for the purpose of denying housing, employment or public accommodations.”
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The measure, Waxman wrote, is intended to ensure that housing developments like the one established in Arkansas “have no place” in Pennsylvania.
From national reporting to a legislative response
Public scrutiny of Return to the Land began in June 2025, when Hannah Feuer of the Forward reported that the group was developing a segregated, off-grid housing community in northern Arkansas, screening applicants by race and religion before allowing them to live on its 160-acre property.
Legal experts interviewed by Feuer said the group’s model appeared to violate the Fair Housing Act. But in August, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said a preliminary review by his office found no evidence that state or federal laws had been broken.
That response became a turning point.
In a recent interview with Feuer, Waxman called Griffin’s statement “moral cowardice” and said it highlighted the need for clearer statutory language.
“We want to make sure that it’s specific in law,” Waxman told the Forward. “I don’t want to have to rely on the interpretation of agencies and outside entities.”
According to the Forward, civil rights officials say this kind of housing discrimination is already illegal in Pennsylvania, but Waxman’s bill is meant to make clear that calling a development a “private group” is not a loophole.
Waxman also framed the issue in personal terms.
“The community I come from is, by definition, the opposite of what these people are doing,” he said. “My district includes large immigrant communities and people from all kinds of different places, and I’m proud of that. And part of it is obviously being Jewish — that’s not something that’s lost on me, that I wouldn’t be welcome in one of these communities.”
