Burdens According To Race Class and Gender (Short Paper)

Imperialism is something that is everywhere. In the cars people choose to drive, the places they choose to eat, even the issues they deal with in day to day life. In the following essay I will discuss the affect of Imperialism on persons in relation to their social class, race and gender according to The Black Mans Burden and The White Mans Burden Imperialism is defined as “The belief in the desirability of the acquisition of colonies and dependencies, or the extension of a country's influence through trade, diplomacy” this definition can be applied to the poems in question because in one way or another the main characters in the poems, be they white or black men, are being controlled by a larger purpose than personal gain. Though the burdens being described in both poems are both described differently, they are still cited as burdens regardless.On one hand the burden in Kipling’s The White Mans Burden is described as something the reader should “take up” (Kipling 1) while in the case of The Black Mans Burden the burden is described as something that one must “pile on” (Johnson 1) these two descriptions of what needs to be done with the burdens both makes their interpretations and meanings different. By allowing the burden in The White Mans Burden to be taken up the person who may be carrying it is being given a release. With The Black Mans Burden the burden is only being added to. This is something that is both seen in The Poor Mans Burden as well as The Black Mans Burden I felt as though with this connection, being poor and black are often things that are interwoven with each other. While I also agree with Ben's point that the speaker is saying it is appropriate for the person in question to take advantage of a local resource instead of going to places like Cuba or Hawaii I also feel like even with the convenience of being locals people are still being exploited wheter they are from Cuba or Hawaii. The main point of imperialism is to control smaller groups of people or in a larger sense countries. Lower classed indiviguals ie: brown and yellow people are more likely to be controlled by things like colonialism, capitalism or imperialism. Strangly although certain races are highlighted in all three of the burden poems, for some odd reason I am left with the idea that, although the person who may have the burden has shifted, ultimately the white man is still to blame for the burdens that follow after Kipling's poem