Read the excerpt from "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” There are seventy-two crimes in the State of Virginia which, if committed by a black man (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment.

What problem is Douglass referring to in this excerpt?
the alarming rise in crime that was taking place
the difficulties of living in Virginia prior to the Civil War
the injustice and unreliability of the death penalty
the unfair treatment of African Americans in the courts