Going Nowhere

"And when the woman with the multiple degrees says, I didn't know black women could get cancer, instinctively you take two steps back though all urgency leaves the possibility of any kind of relationship as you realize nowhere is where you will get from here." (45)

This line is awesome. The way that I read it, the 'nowhere' that Rankine is referring to can mean two different things. The most obvious meaning is that the person receiving the preposterous assumption about black women and cancer has no desire to keep up a relationship with the woman saying it, because if she's simply that oblivious, then why would someone want to be friends with her? The statement could also take on a broader meaning. The woman, although her 'multiple degrees' make her very educated in the eyes of America, is lacking in such basic human respect and knowledge. Of course black women can get cancer! The questioning of that very obvious fact further perpetuates the message Citizen is trying to get across, which is that black people are inherently different from white people. And so they're treated differently. Therefore, the 'nowhere' that their relationship is going could also represent America and the relationship between black and white people within it. Although progress has certainly been made in the relationship, it's more likely to go nowhere if we continue to accept absurd questions like this.