The words `` welcome to Leith '' are etched on two wooden boards , nailed to a pair of poles stuck in the grassy North Dakota prairie . With wildflowers immediately to the front , a dirt road yards away and a few stray buildings and trees in the distance , the sign seems appropriately simple for the tiny town . Yet in the last few weeks , Leith has become anything but simple . Paul Craig Cobb wants to transform the town 70 miles southwest of Bismarck into a community that mirrors his white supremacist views . He did so quietly at first , asking residents whether their land was for sale . But recent reports from The New York Times and the Southern Poverty Law Center exposed his mission and turned it into a national story . In an interview with The New York Times , Cobb said he hoped his plans in Leith would `` excite '' white people and `` give them confidence because we 're being deracinated in our own country . '' `` We 've been very , very tolerant about these major sociological changes , '' he said , according to the paper . Stuck in the middle is Leith 's lone black resident , Bobby Harper . He 's known Leith as a nice , peaceful place where `` everybody got along , we basically could leave our doors unlocked , and there was no fear that nobody wanting to harm us . '' Thanks to Cobb , Harper now feels under threat , and he said his townsfolk do , too . `` If he ca n't love his fellow man , then we ask God to help him with something , '' Harper said Friday about Cobb . `` Because I 'm not very happy , and the people in this town are n't very happy . '' Leith is part of Grant County , which according to its official website is North Dakota 's third largest county by land mass at more than 1 million acres . While the communities once buzzed with activity from nearby railroads , nowadays it 's decidedly more quiet . That certainly was true of Leith . The U.S. Census bureau says it has a population of 16 people , though other estimates run higher -- though not beyond 25 residents . Among them is Harper 's wife , Sherrill . Her mother grew up in Leith and , today , she and her husband call it home . `` I have roots in this town , '' she told CNN 's John Berman on Friday night , alongside Bobby . `` I have a reason to be here . '' Sherill Harper recalls running into Cobb last year and he asked her if she had property for sale . She said no . Bobby Harper said Cobb asked him the same question . `` He has the audacity to even ask me for information to buy land , and his intentions were to harm my way of life ? '' he said . `` ... That 's very , very uncomfortable for me . '' How successful was Cobb , who is wanted in Canada on hate speech charges , in buying up the town ? The Harpers say that residents have been overwhelmingly supportive of them . But the Southern Poverty Law Center notes that white nationalist April Gaede and her husband claimed , on an online message board , to have property in the town . So , too , has Jeff Schoep -- commander of the Nationalist Socialist Movement , which he describes as the `` largest pro-white organization '' in the United States `` involved in the struggle for white civil rights . '' In an open letter to Leith Mayor Ryan Schock , Schoep announced that he and members of his group would be heading to Leith on September 22 and 23 with `` a simple message that Craig Cobb will NOT be ousted from the community . '' `` Craig is not breaking any laws or ordinances , and has a right to reside in Leith just as any other American does , '' Schoep writes , just before mentioning how he owns an old meat packing/creamery building in town . He adds later , `` If anything , you should see this for what it is , a chance at revitalizing a community . '' These comments have been echoed on white nationalist online message boards such as WhiteNations.com and Stormfront . Posters there have applauded Cobb for `` doing a great job '' and jibing critics as `` laughable , pathetic what this country has come to . '' The Harpers have felt their wrath , including a letter they received Friday that read , in part : `` I want you to leave your `` husband '' and go join Mr. Cobb 's movement . Do it now ! Separation of the races forever ! '' The target of that missive , Sherrill Harper , says that 's just one of many she 's received calling her a `` filthy , race-mixing white woman '' and `` pea-brained . '' `` It made me afraid , '' she said . `` If his goal is to just have only white people here , where do my husband and I go ? '' Sherrill has nothing but kind words for her neighbors , but that does n't mean she knows what to do or how this story will end . She admits , `` I think we 're unsure as to what to do . We 'll just have to wait and see . '' Cobb said his friends have bought or acquired some of his plots , but he does not know when they will move to the town . South African town accused of keeping apartheid alive .
Bismarck , North Dakota , is a town of a few hundred people , only one of whom is black . Paul ##ie Cobb has been trying to turn it into a white nationalist community . The town 's lone black resident and his wife feel threatened and uncertain .