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Afghan Women
Unworthy of The White Man’s Burden
At the start of the 20th century, an editorial cartoon illustrated Kipling’s poem The White Man’s Burden. The poem expressed the grand idea of colonialism. The cartoon showed John Bull, the personification of Great Britain, and his counterpart Uncle Sam trekking up a steep hill made of boulders toward a gold statue. The boulders underneath their feet were inscribed with the words: Superstition, Cannibalism, Slavery, Oppression, Brutality, and Vice. The gold statue at the top of the hill held a sign that said: Civilization. John Bull and Uncle Sam were hunched over with huge baskets strapped to their backs. The baskets were filled with all their colonial subjects from Africa and Asia. The message was clear, John Bull and Uncle Sam carried the tribal people of the earth to civilization.
In plain English, the White Man’s Burden was to civilize the “uncivilized”.
Over the course of the century, The White Man’s Burden was rightfully condemned for its racism and white supremacy. By the end of the 20th century, the European powers lost their colonies, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the United States became the lone superpower.
Immediately, the United States embarked on its own version of The White Man’s Burden.