A Jewish Pennsylvania lawmaker has introduced a bill to clarify that housing developments like Return to the Land — a whites-only, no-Jews community in northern Arkansas — are illegal in his state.

In June, the Forward broke a story about Return to the Land’s effort to revive segregated housing, with the group screening applicants for race and religion before allowing them to live on its 160-acre property. While several legal experts said that Return to the Land was violating the Fair Housing Act, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said in August that a preliminary review found that no laws had been broken.

In an interview with the Forward, State Rep. Ben Waxman called Griffin’s statement “moral cowardice” and said the bill is meant to prevent a similar outcome in Pennsylvania.

“The community that I come from, is, by definition, the opposite of what these people are doing,” Waxman said. “We have large immigrant communities in my district. We have people from all kinds of different places, and I’m proud of that.”

Waxman, 40, represents a district that includes Center City and South Philadelphia. He’s a member of the Conservative synagogue Beth Zion-Beth Israel, had an adult bar mitzvah on a Birthright trip to Israel, and keeps Shabbat.

“Part of it is obviously being Jewish,” Waxman said. “That’s not something that is lost on me, that I wouldn’t be welcome in one of these communities.”

What would the bill do?

The bill is a preventative measure in case Return to the Land expands its whites-only living communities to Pennsylvania, Waxman said. The Arkansas group currently has a regional chapter that includes Pennsylvania with a few hundred members, according to co-founder Peter Csere, but Csere is not aware of members purchasing land in the state.

Waxman said he worried Return to the Land might exploit a potential loophole in Pennsylvania law that allows private and fraternal organizations to “give preference to persons of the same religion or denomination.”

His bill states that “private or fraternal” organizations do not include “organizations that restrict membership in the organization on account of race, color, national origin or ancestry for the purose or effect of denying equal access to housing, employment or public accommodations.”

In other words, the clause is meant to prevent groups from discriminating by using “private” status as a loophole to avoid civil rights laws, he said.

How does the private club exemption work?

Housing discrimination is illegal, per the Fair Housing Act of 1968. But the specifics can get complicated.

While private clubs are allowed to give housing preference to people of the same religion, that exemption does not apply to organizations that sell or rent housing to the public for commercial purposes, according to Chad Lassiter, executive director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the state’s civil rights enforcement agency.

In recent months, Return to the Land updated its website to say that it “does not engage in the sale or rental of real estate,” language that appears aimed at strengthening its claim to private club status.

But the group’s own operating agreement from 2024, obtained by the Forward, references “sale of real estate,” “rental properties within the community,” and an “HOA,” or homeowners association.

Even if Return to the Land did qualify as a private club, Lassiter said, it would still be barred from discriminating on the basis of race. The only limited exception allowed under Pennsylvania law is for religious preference.

But while existing law already prohibits racial discrimination, Waxman’s legislation is meant to eliminate ambiguity.

“This proposed bill would clarify existing laws to remove any confusion and close any perceived loopholes,” Lassiter said.

Waxman acknowledged that current law could be sufficient to rule Return to the Land’s housing practices illegal, but said he’s not taking any risks.

“We want to make sure that it’s specific in law,” Waxman said. “I don’t want to have to rely on the interpretation of agencies and outside entities.”

The post A whites-only, no-Jews community says it’s found a legal loophole. A Jewish lawmaker in Pennsylvania wants to close it. appeared first on The Forward.