1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

I write as a voter devoted to our Constitution’s promise of local self-government, private property, and equal justice under law—principles now at risk in the controversy over Arkansas’s “Return to the Land” (RTTL) homesteading initiative. RTTL participants have lawfully purchased more than 160 acres, admitted only consenting adults, and conducted themselves peacefully. Yet state authorities and media voices are demanding shutdowns and legal action purely because of the residents’ chosen membership criteria. Meanwhile, comparable efforts—such as Black Land & Power’s voluntary cooperative farms and the “40 Acres/40 Cities” Juneteenth land-reclamation events—are celebrated as models of community empowerment. Courts have repeatedly protected those projects under the same freedoms RTTL now claims. If exclusively Black land trusts may stand, equal protection demands that any other private, nonviolent community receive the same treatment. To uphold our shared values, we urge you to champion a simple, content-neutral standard: 1. Freedom of Association The First Amendment protects private membership groups—whether organized around race, faith, or political philosophy—so long as they act peacefully and voluntarily. 2. Property Rights Anti-discrimination laws rightly secure access to public markets, but they do not—and should not—reach purely private clubs on private land funded by dues rather than open listings. 3. Equal Application Government may forbid violence, fraud, or environmental harm, but it cannot wield ideology tests. Targeting RTTL while honoring other race-based settlements is viewpoint discrimination at odds with due process. 4. Prudent Optics Shutting down a peaceful enclave reinforces cynicism that “small government” and “free speech” are hollow slogans. Defending a neutral rule exposes selective enforcement and unites citizens across party lines who cherish consistent, limited government. I propose adding to forthcoming property-rights or civil-rights legislation—and to Department of Justice guidance—a provision that bars government interference in any community that is voluntary, privately funded, nonviolent, and transparent about its bylaws. Such language neither endorses RTTL’s ideology nor undermines public safety; it simply prevents bureaucratic overreach today—and arbitrary censorship of faith-based, veterans’, homeschool, or other peaceful communities tomorrow. Defend these neutral principles now, and you will safeguard every lawful enclave that builds and governs itself without coercion, keeping government small, liberties large, and the playing field level for all.