H. T. Johnson, an African American preacher, wrote "The
Black Man's Burden" as a response to Kipling's work.
Pile on the Black Man's Burden.
Tis nearest at your door;
Why heed long bleeding Cuba,
or dark Hawaii's shore?
Hail ye your fearless armies,
Which menace feeble folks
Who fight with clubs and arrows
and brook your rifle's smoke....
You've sealed the Red Man's problem,
And will take up the Brown,
In vain ye seek to end it,
With bullets, blood or death
Better by far defend it
With honor's holy breath
-"The Black Man's Burden,"
H. T. Johnson, 1899
What point of view does Johnson express in this
poem?
O Imperialists rely on military might to unfairly conquer
other cultures.
Europeans need to share their civilization with other
cultures.
Americans could benefit from becoming imperialists
like the Europeans.
Imperialism becomes a problem only when colonies
are located too far away.