Controversy Ho!

The most important thing to ask in such a situation, if I found myself in one, was the perceived severity of the essay. I like to think that I am not someone who is easily riled up by much, so for the most part I would simply go ahead and attempt to help the student make the best paper the student could make under the circumstances. There will always be varying degrees of offensiveness within a paper. Barring something blatantly and overtly racist/sexist/etc with a specific time and date to kill someone of said category, I don't think that one should argue for forcing the student to change his or her paper, especially if the issue within the paper is something the student strongly believes.

Generally speaking, however, I think that the most important thing is to ensure that the student is aware of the issues and possible connotations within the paper. "Ignorance is no excuse" as is said within the American justice system, and we are tutors and act as pseudo-educators, after all. I believe that enabling the student to be more fully aware of the topic presented would help said student make better choices, and ultimately either further strengthen their controversial opinion or enable them to make the decision to change it. I believe it is key to ensure that the student is aware of possible issues with whatever chosen topic, and any controversies associated with it.

Once a student is made aware, that student can then make the necessary decision on where to proceed with the paper. This isn't really changing their paper, and sometimes testing the boundaries of acceptability is a good thing, if only to get us out of our comfort zones. The introduction of awareness does not necessarily lead to a black and white situation where the student must either decide to make it "the best racist paper ever" or "abandon it completely." Awareness empowers the student to make many decisions with the paper, of which those are only two. This awareness can allow the student to change tone, and show evidence that the student does not share these views. This awareness might also enable the student to find a new direction for this or a future essay, and discover the meaning behind an "innocently used" racist statement, and enable the student to find new directions, not only within educational pursuits, but possible careers afterwards. Or the student could simply delete said statement, and move on if the overall argument is strong enough to stand on its own without the statement.

I don't believe that this either/or view with such an essay is the only route that could be taken. There are many different paths and forking roads to be considered, depending on the essay, depending on the amount of support this misconception provides to the overall argument, or depending on the beliefs of the writer (if it was, say, abortion or gun control instead of something racist). Ultimately I believe it is an important responsibility for the tutor to make the student aware of what is being said, if nothing else, and to provide possible directions for how to "fix" or "change" this, so the student can go down whatever new path these possibilities lead.

Generally speaking.