re various celebrities accused of racism, the idea that the answer to the question lies within them, as in a casket, so that only they finally know whether they are or not. They will, no doubt, open the casket on national TV – they will perform their sincerity, as though they themselves (their own private knowledge) were the final point of adjudication.

The reality is that the racism lies 'outside' them in their actions, their slips, their elementary failures of respect etc, and all that the 'inner realm of sincerity' knows to disavow. There is no question 'are they a racist?' which is separate from the question 'do they do racist things'. Far from being the final point of adjudication, they are the last people we should consult, just as we would not consult someone to discover whether they are (for example) generous or a fraudulent. Nor is it that the contents of the 'inner casket' are really insincere. The person may indeed really believe that he/she 'takes people as they are' etc, just as a mean person may genuinely believe themselves generous. Finally, the routine confession of the accused is of small importance because, to make use of the Lacanian formula, they themselves do not know how the Other appears to them. What they say and do knows different and more revealing things than the 'innermost self' - with its 'pre-Copernican' view of its own importance.

Needless to say, though, the opening of the casket is itself only a public ritual to appease the God of Appearances.

nb can't really comment in particular on Cbb, as I haven't been watching it, but here's someone who has.