The White Man’s Burden: Confronting White Privilege
The poem “The White Man’s Burden” written in 1898 dehumanized POC by characterizing them as helpless children and asserting colonization as a parentally-coded burden of white people. This characterization of POC was a main tool to preserve white supremacy and privilege due to xenophobia and the widespread ignorance of non-white cultures.
“The White Man’s Burden” by F.V. Gillam - A cartoon illustrating the concept of the poem “The White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling, with colonizing powers Britain and USA leading their respective colonies to “civilization”. Photo Credits: The Ohio State University, Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, 1899
However, the rise of POC social justice movements in response to colonialism and white supremacy has diminished the once-popular childlike characterizations of POC. Instead, the actions of POC against white supremacy are seen as dangerously unjust--white people assert themselves as helpless victims burdened by confrontations aimed at their privilege. This tactic enables white people to deflect responsibility in addressing their privilege, further isolating the experiences of POC within society.
Both Kipling and modern rhetoric emphasize the “burden of being white,” leading white people to ask the question: “What’s so great about being white?” The only way to combat the ignorance of white privilege is to directly state POC experiences in order to confront the established white-victim mentality, thus preventing the spread of harmful thinking.
Debunking White-Victim Beliefs
Belief 1: Why can’t I take pride in being white like other cultures do, why do I have to hide my whiteness just because of my privilege?
Culture is an amalgamation of traditional practices and beliefs that are celebrated and respected as one’s identity. “White culture” was created in response to and in opposition against POC; this belief is not related to identity, but is about suppressing other identities. “Hiding whiteness” does not arise from the invalidity of “white culture.” It is imperative that one does not simply associate their identity with their skin color alone, but with an actual culture with rich history behind it, which is in fact possible for white people as well.
Belief 2: My ancestors did the harm, not me, so why do I have to pay for crimes I didn’t commit?
There is no singular crime that racial justice movements are specifically targeting whiteness for. If you conflate the system of institutions and its racial targeting with your own identity, I suggest you critically reflect on how your identity as a macrocosmic whole rather than as an individual is in antithesis to POC. The use of the word “ancestors” distances yourself from the system and denies responsibility. The fight for civil rights is not a movement that is so far behind us that many people’s grandparents did not play a role in it. The privilege that is given to you by the social, economic, and political systems explicitly harms POC, and disestablishing the white supremacy structure is contingent upon white people analyzing their own privilege, beliefs, social conditioning, and values.
Belief 3: I’m seen as inherently wrong just because I’m white--why are people allowed to judge me based on my race?
The implication of this question is that these judgements hold the same weight as judgements that people make due to stereotypes of POC. The negative perception of POC has material, measurable consequences ranging from racial barriers in employment and housing to police brutality. Stereotypes around all races exist, however, denying the consequences of POC stereotypes to emphasize negative non-POC sentiment contributes to POC oppression.
The “white man’s burden” is a tool for white people to victimize themselves and call for support from the white-centered system. Countermovements ranging from All Lives Matter to protests against immigration have this rhetoric at heart. Many more beliefs like this are spread through white communities that haven’t been educated on the history and perspectives of POC, and continue to stand in the way of POC efforts to confront injustices. Confronting them means actively fighting the deliberate ignorance to privilege by promoting a well-rounded education on POC experiences with oppression and the system that creates it.
Cover Photo Credits: UnratedStudio / Pixabay
Written by Lakshmi Adiga
