Did Elijah Muhammad's Message To the Black Man Uplift Adherents? The Treatment Effects of Membership In The Nation of Islam

Abstract

Established in 1930, the Nation of Islam (NOI) offered uplift to the wellbeing of Black Americans. Its charismatic leader, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, articulated how membership in the NOI would improve the well-being of Black Americans. We consider the impact of NOI membership on several measures of individual well-being. Using data from the first wave of the National Survey of Black Americans, we appeal to the Rubin Causal Framework to estimate the treatment effect of being a member of the NOI on certain outcomes: e.g., overall socioeconomic status, self-employment, self-esteem, and health status. To enable causal interpretation, we estimate the treatment parameters by matching on observable covariates that are not affected by the treatment. Treatment parameter estimates suggest that, at least in the late 1970s, had the NOI been able to expand its membership, new adherents would have benefited from enhanced Black identity, a higher likelihood of not having common health problems, and a lower likelihood of hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and incarceration. Our findings suggest that the NOI could have had a substantial impact on the individual well-being of Black Americans if it were larger, and that NOI-like organizations can help mitigate race-based inequalities in well-being.