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.
-H. T. Johnson,
"The Black Man's Burden," 1899
Background information: An African American wrote
this poem, "The Black Man's Burden," as a response to
Kipling's poem.
How does Johnson describe imperialism?
as a bloody local conflict
as a distraction to domestic US problems
as stronger countries abusing their power
as weaker countries beating industrialized armies
