Social Darwinism In The White Man’s Burden, A Poem Written By Rudyard Kipling

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The white man’s burden, a poem written by Rudyard Kipling and published in 1899 is one of Kipling’s most infamous poems. The white man’s burden tells of the perceived role of the white man and his obligation to hold dominion over the more inferior races by divine mandate(Kipling, 1899). The poem describes the cost and burden for the white man. The burden to hold back pride, to ensure that the white man is using simple wording and lessons to bring the savages out of bondage of their own doing, and to be patient towards the lesser savages.

The author reminds the reader the white man may well be hated by those they feel they are saving and bringing into the light(Kipling, 1899). While often reviled for the racist tones and falseness, it does serve as quite the euphemism for imperialism and lessons can be learned from this while ensuring that we do not follow this example. Social Darwinism is a set of ideologies that emerged in the late 1800s following Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and /of natural selection (History channel, 2018). Social Darwinist believed in survival of the fittest and was used often to justify racism, social inequality, and imperialism citing their belief much like in Kipling’s white man’s burden that one race or group was set above the others(History channel, 2018).

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An unfortunate example of groups grasping onto the theory of social Darwinism can be found in the belief of eugenics and the Nazi party of Germany led by Adolf Hitler. The Nazis targeted groups and races that they believed were inferior, groups such as the Jewish peoples, Roma gypsies, and those with disabilities and homosexuals stating that they were weak, unfit, and lazy; that ridding the society of these undesirables would improve the human race(History channel, 2018). Ethnocentrism is defined by Merriam-Webster as the attitude that one’s own group, ethnicity or nationality is superior to others (Merriam-Webster, 2019). In the white mans burden ethnocentrism is peppered through the poem. Overtly focusing on the author’s view that the white European is superior and meant to colonize and domesticate what he and many of the time viewed to be lesser peoples. If fact Kipling referred to the people as half devil and half child. Implying through the poem that the non-white peoples were immature, simply did not know any better, were lazy and wild (Kipling, 1899).

This could be further from the truth. Growing up in a Puerto Rican family, although I had never before heard this poem, I have heard similar history and stories told by my uncles and grandparents. This view was held for so long it became a part of a collective and continues to be felt and shared. We can look at history and still not learn enough to prevent some holding a sense that other peoples need to be saved, to be domesticated and controlled. References Editors, H. (2018, April 06). Social Darwinism. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/social-darwinism#section_6 Kipling, R. (1956). Kipling: A selection of his stories and poems. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company. Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Ethnocentrism. Retrieved March 11, 2019, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethnocentrism

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