Kipling, a British poet who lived throughout the Empire for many years, was a man of his time when it came to racial attitudes. He thinks that white people should devote themselves to carrying the "blessings of civilization" to other peoples around the world. He also thinks that doing so is a worthy pursuit for young men, working, he says for the benefit of others by building "ports ye shall not enter" and "roads ye...
Kipling, a British poet who lived throughout the Empire for many years, was a man of his time when it came to racial attitudes. He thinks that white people should devote themselves to carrying the "blessings of civilization" to other peoples around the world. He also thinks that doing so is a worthy pursuit for young men, working, he says for the benefit of others by building "ports ye shall not enter" and "roads ye shall not tread." He claims that colonial peoples, who he describes as "half-devil and half-child," will not appreciate or even accept the improvements that whites bring.
So in return for shouldering the white man's burden, he claims, the colonizers will receive "the blame of those ye better, the hate of those ye guard." Kipling believes that colonial peoples are ignorant and backward, and hate the Europeans because they cannot appreciate the benefits they bring. What white men will get, he suggests at the end of the poem, is the "judgment of your peers." He is speaking specifically here of the American debate over annexation of the Philippines (which he supported). By annexing the Philippines, the United States would assume its place among the great nations of Europe. Again, it should be emphasized that Kipling's poem is full of nineteenth and early twentieth century assumptions about race. As allegedly superior people, it was the "burden" of white men to help other people around the world through imperialism, even if the only thing received in return was the respect of other white people.
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