"The White Man's Burden" and "The Culture of Poverty"- the perpetuation of victim blaming

“Culture” has always been used to delineate spheres of power and privilege. The savage from the civilized. The 1^st world from the 3^rd. It is a term that encompasses an entire population without attention to its structure or individuals.

                The introduction of Kaplan’s “The Anarchy of Empire” discusses the colonization of Puerto Rico and the ensuing debate about the rights and privileges held by the newly acquired nation. It is decided that while Puerto Rico is in the hands of the U.S., it is not to be ingested, for who knows what filth it holds. It cannot be incorporated into the White America that those in power wished to retain. In this sense, “culture” is used to keep racial boundaries in place. What is most interesting though is this sense of a right to expand and collect civilizations and folk, but the fear in actually assimilating them into the larger society of U.S. empire. However, one can argue that without this threat of the “uncivilized” there would be nothing keeping the ego and power of the U.S. afloat. Without any comparison, how is one to maintain that they are the most powerful? The most successful? The most intelligent, and therefore the rightful owners of wherever, and whomever, they choose to conquer? “Culture” keeps the idea of “the nation” alive by comparison. Those without culture (usually simply a difference magnified or blatantly left unexplored) can easily sustain the idea that those with “culture” have a right to form the boundaries of their nation and to reinforce these boundaries by any means necessary. The largest threat to “the nation” is a lack of culture.

                “The White Man’s Burden” is a fascinating (and troubling) example of the most popular opinions of the time. Kipling implies repeatedly that foreigners are savages by using words like “breed” and describing them as “half devil and half child.” Throughout history, people of color have been compared to children, as seen in the “paternalistic” nature of slavery and the increased Christian evangelical mission work throughout U.S. expansion and colonialism. “The White Man’s Burden” is to save the ungrateful savage from themselves. In this respect, savages can only be people of color, since the White Man has been instructed to save all others.

                In class we discussed the problematic and widely accepted “culture of poverty” concept. Just as our ancestors blindly followed the perception that foreigners were savage and a threat to the “domestic”, today we see the repercussions of blaming the poor for their status- an often direct attack on people of color and a threat to the middle class. Sociologists continue our discussion in the article posted and make the valid and insightful point that black culture is seen as a culture of poverty and is therefore not something to be celebrated. It ignores the infrastructural limitations of resources in education, housing, and healthcare. The powerful promote this misconception because it is the easiest answer to a problem they created. Just as the savages were blamed for lacking the designated signs of culture, minorities, and the poor in general, are blamed for the circumstances many were born into without choice. The powerful decide who is valuable and who is in need of saving, but does nothing to affect these issues long term. Sociologists point to an organizational failure- just because blacks and whites are “treated equally” does not mean they can perform equally, because the equality is a falsity that denies the very existence of the cycle.