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No White Women. Wyatt professes that he acted not only for profit but to bring new industry to St. Clair. He also expresses growing admiration for the Muslims. "The more I find out about the Muslims, the better I like 'em," he says. "They don't believe in smoking, drinking or adultery: they have no interest in white women; they believe in hard work and segregation."
Ray Wyatt's brother Wallace, 45, does not agree. Wallace first exposed the land deal. Later, he signed a trespassing warrant against his brother. Wallace Wyatt says he regrets the need for such action, but explains: "I'd rather see my brother in jail than with the Muslims. I feel like when they get through using him, they will kill him."
The Muslims have remained generally unperturbed at the uproar, except for one remark by Turner that, if the whites resorted to violence, "we will send a thousand Muslims in there" to fight back. Instead, they have sought relief in the courts while continuing to look for other expansion sites in the South. There are reports that the Muslims have quietly bought up to 50,000 additional acres below the Mason-Dixon line.
So far, the Muslims have proved themselves exemplary neighbors. Similar Muslim farms operate in Michigan and Georgia, and neither has encountered the resistance met in Alabama. Both have small work forces recruited from local labor, and local white businessmen have been highly pleased with the operation. The Muslims, in fact, offered to fly St. Clair County businessmen to Georgia to inspect the farm there and hear white testimonials, but so far there have been few takers.