Lakshmi Unsuccessful Genocide Poem Summary

Written by Leah Lakshmi, Consensual Genocide is a book compiled of many poems that don't exactly follow a simple chronological order, but rather is full of many small stories about the life of a Sri Lankan girl. In this book Lakshmi not only explores various themes such as gender, religion, race and sexuality through stories and real life events, but also voices her opinion on these topics very bluntly, strengthening her message. One really important aspect of this novel is how Lakshmi used historical events to educate the reader about many things, including her country's past. In the poem "tsunami song," Lakshmi notes how there was a terrible tsunami that hit parts of South and Southeast Asia, including Sri Lanka. She voices an important concern in this poem; when acknowledging that the tsunami put Sri Lanka on the headlines of the news, she talks

In " I didn't want the end times to be like this: 9/11 in seven slams," the girl discusses how many races were naively labeled as one race: brown. She discusses how everyone with a beige or darker skin tone will be labeled as a terrorist, regardless if that person is Afghani or Nepali. Lakshmi also shows readers of the stereotypical nature of America after 9/11 through events the girl goes through. For example, when the girl was at a checkout line with halal chicken and Arabic writing on the packaging, the cashier stares at her as if she was a terrorist. In another poem, the girl shares how badly her close ones have gotten hurt casually in public. Lakshmi makes the point that race didn't matter after 9/11; she's emphasizing that if you weren't white or light skinned, then you were an enemy to America. Through some of the later poems in the book, Lakshmi also challenges the conventional American identity of being self righteous knowing what is good for every other