Kipling intended the phrase "the white man's burden" to refer to the responsibility of Western nations, particularly European colonial powers, to bring progress, education, and development to the colonized peoples of Asia and Africa. According to this view, Western nations had a moral and civilizing mission to uplift the non-Western world by sharing their advanced technologies, systems of government, and cultural norms.
The poem presents the idea of the white man's burden as a noble duty that comes with the superior position of Western civilization. Kipling writes:
Take up the White Man's burden—
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
In his perspective, the colonized people were considered to be in need of guidance and enlightenment, and the Western powers were seen as having the responsibility to assume that role.
However, it's important to recognize that the concept of the white man's burden has been criticized for its underlying assumptions of Western superiority and the implicit racial hierarchy it presents. Critics argue that the phrase reflects a paternalistic view that downplays the agency and self-determination of non-Western societies.
In today's context, the phrase "the white man's burden" is generally seen as anachronistic and problematic, and it is no longer widely used or endorsed in the same manner as it was during the colonial era.