Writing for the Huffington Post, Kim Farbota claims that statistics commonly used to highlight perceived inequities in the black communities are, in fact, “racist.” Dr. Farbota “earned a PhD in neuroscience and master’s in public affairs from the University of Wisconsin prior to attending Yale Law School, where she will complete her JD in 2015.”

Her article, aptly titled “Black Crime Rates: Your Statistics Are Racist,” argues that statistics do not show the reality of crime in the United States. Instead of economic and educational disadvantage in African American communities that leads to crime, Dr. Farbota writes that the simple fact of the matter is that racism is behind high crime rates in the black community.

Again, it’s not the fact that many black people live in disadvantaged communities with low educational standards that lead to high crimes. It’s racism of whites and those in charge of the “system” that leads to high crime rates.

She then makes several additional claims, none of which she backs up with sources. While she does link to other websites, none actually buttress her overall statements.

According to Dr. Farbota, statistics are racist because, “1. If a black person and a white person each commit a crime, the black person is more likely to be arrested.

“(2) When black people are arrested for a crime, they are convicted more often than white people arrested for the same crime.

“(3) When black people are convicted of a crime, they are more likely to be sentenced to incarceration compared to whites convicted of the same crime.”

With this one, Dr. Farbota explains that “one study found that in a particular region blacks were incarcerated for convicted felony offenses 51% of the time while whites convicted of felonies were incarcerated 38% of the time.” But, once again, she leaves out exactly what felonies were committed and whether they normally do lead to prison time or commuted sentences.

Dr. Farbota then literally makes up some numbers to back up her claims, writing:

“So, if 1,000 white people and 200 black people (a ratio of 5:1 to reflect the U.S. population) commit the same crime, here is what the eventual prison population could look like:

“100 white people and 74 black people might be arrested.

“50 white people and 48 black people might be convicted.

“19 white people and 24 black people might be sentenced to prison.”

According to Dr. Farbota, the statistics that she made up “demonstrates that there are systemic differences in how blacks and whites are treated by the law.”

Before the end of her article, Farbota wants to make it clear once again that it is racism, not systematic poverty and lack of education, behind crime in the African American community (emphasis mine): “Poverty, geography, and lacking educational and career opportunities all likely play a role. These factors exacerbate the effects of systemic racism and feed the cycle of incarceration, joblessness, and poverty that plagues some segments of the black population.”