Page:1965 FBI monograph on Nation of Islam.djvu/71

 "There are millions of your dollars lying in the white man's banks, doing nothing for anyone;..."

"I am appealing to you--each and every one of the 22 million black people of America--to send every penny, nickel, dime, dollar, hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars, and millions of dollars that you can spare to this 'Three-Year Economic Plan;' MUHAMMAD'S MOSQUE NO. 2--5333 South Greenwood Ave.--Chicago, Illinois 60615."

"... When our mark of one million dollars is accomplished, we are going to build a national reserve bank for the black people of America."

To the casual observer, this program may appear plausible. But using a little arithmetic, we find that before Elijah Muhammad could accomplish his goal of $1,000,000 to open the national reserve bank, he would need considerable help from non-Muslim Negroes. For, if every one of his known active followers faithfully contributed the 25 cents per week which Elijah has requested, it would take over 15 years, or well into 1980, to collect that amount.

Even more unlikely of accomplishment is his proposal to raise $500,000,000 in the next three years. To reach this goal, well over 12 million persons would have to contribute 25 cents every week for the next three years.

Could it be that a friend of the NOI applied some arithmetic to Elijah's "divine solution" and pointed out its inconsistencies? At any rate, there appeared