A whites-only community in Arkansas is just looking to protect European identity and culture from diversity, and it’s best for people of all races to have their own separate community centers … so says the co-founder of Return to the Land.

We interviewed Eric Orwoll on “TMZ Live” Friday about the whites-only community that is looking to expand to Missouri and other areas … and, we asked about why a whites-exclusive area is so important to their members.

Orwoll says white people value European heritage, and he says he thinks that identity is under threat in modern America. He says he understands if others want to blend and mix their cultures — but, he thinks this would be at the detriment of pure cultural ancestry.

We get into the federal laws governing equal and fair housing … and Orwoll says RTTL isn’t looking to break the law — they’re simply trying to work around it via exceptions written into it.

While the group wants white, American-born individuals to apply, Eric says anyone can send in an application … with acceptance decided on a case-by-case basis. As for whether they’ll actually allow anyone in who doesn’t meet racial or ethnic requirements, we just don’t know … but it sure sounds doubtful.

Orwoll says there’s a huge difference between segregation of the past and what Return to the Land wants … ’cause past segregation wasn’t voluntary, whereas the type he’s floating would be.

In fact, Orwoll tells us forced integration is a problem … people shouldn’t be “forced” to live with others who don’t share their same cultural background if they don’t want to.

Orwoll says the group’s looking to expand beyond living communities BTW … telling us they’re also looking into building whites-only community centers. He’s encouraging Black and Jewish people to invest in their own community centers — no whites allowed — too.

Worth noting … Orwoll’s pitching a “separate but equal” mentality — which the Supreme Court ruled against in the Brown v the Board of Education decision in 1954. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote, “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” … and this would seem to apply to separate community centers, too.

Watch the full clip … Orwoll also slips in some “race science” and the debunked notion “genetically, race leads to ‘cognitive differences.'”

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin railed against RTTL in a recent statement … telling the group racism has no place in the state.