Is there validity to Kipling's entreaty or is it consciously or not a cover for national racism and profit seeking?

No, 'The White Man's Burden' has no validity at all, Kipling, though a great writer shared the racist views of many of his contemporaries during the nineteenth century. Their reputation as gentlemen and civilized people didn't quite fit with their conquering impoverished countries to grab up all of their natural resources. That's why Social Darwinism was so readily embraced. Although it completely misrepresented Darwin's theory, they were able to twist in a way that justified racism and the colonization of third world countries.