Take up the white man's burden send forth the best ye breed. go bind your sons to exile to serve your captives' need. to wait in heavy harness, on fluttered folk and wild. your new-caught, sullen peoples, half-devil and half-child. —rudyard kipling "the white man's burden" 1899 according to kipling, what is the white man's burden? white men have the duty to serve others around the world. white men must send their best sons to work as household servants. white men must wait until they have worked hard enough to improve other regions. white men are devilish and childish, and these qualities harm society.