A 16-year-old student at Central Davidson High School in Lexington, North Carolina, has been suspended after he used the term “illegal alien” during a vocabulary assignment in his English class.
Christian McGhee was assigned vocabulary words during class, which included the word “alien.”
McGhee inquired about the word, asking “Like space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards?”
NEW: North Carolina high school student Christian McGhee was suspended from school for saying "illegal alien" in the classroom.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 16, 2024
Calling an illegal alien and illegal alien is not offensive, it's just a fact.
McGhee was suspended for three days after doing an assignment in… pic.twitter.com/TUPX0sRmtg
According to The Carolina Journal, an email detailing the incident was sent to local officials, stating that a fellow student took offense to his question and threatened to fight him, prompting the teacher to call in the assistant principal.
Administrative staff deemed McGhee’s word as offensive and disrespectful to Hispanic classmates.
“I didn’t make a statement directed towards anyone; I asked a question,” McGhee said following his suspension.
“I wasn’t speaking of Hispanics because everyone from other countries needs green cards, and the term ‘illegal alien’ is an actual term that I hear on the news and can find in the dictionary.”
McGhee’s mother is concerned that her son’s record could be tarnished, affecting his pursuit of an athletic college scholarship.
In an email, the mother wrote:
“Because of his question, our son was disciplined and given THREE days OUT of school suspension for ‘racism.'”
“He is devastated and concerned that the racism label on his school record will harm his future goal of receiving a track scholarship.”
She added, “We are concerned that he will fall behind in his classes due to being absent for three consecutive days.”
When Newsweek contacted members of the high school’s staff for comment, they responded that they could not discuss a specific student or their actions due to federal student privacy protections.
“Please know that Davidson County Schools administrators take all discipline incidents seriously and investigate each one thoroughly,” the staff member’s message to Newsweek read.
“Any violation of the code of conduct is handled appropriately by administrators.”
X users blasted the school for suspending the student.
Libs Of TikTok expressing concerns that it could negatively impact McGhee’s academic record”
“Please support this based student by helping to raise awareness to his story!” she said.
Elon Musk then replied to the post, stating, “This is absurd.”
This is absurd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 16, 2024
“‘Illegal alien‘ is the language used in U.S. law. Teacher’s wrong, young man is right. Spread the word,” remarked Buzz Patterson, a political author and retired United States Air Force pilot, on X.
“Illegal alien” is the language used in US law. Teacher’s wrong, young man is right. Spread the word. https://t.co/tHWfZcXnkC
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) April 16, 2024
McGhee’s mother also appeared on The Pete Kaliner Show, where she elaborated on the incident, noting how her family had previously lived in the U.K. and needed green cards to live in the U.S.
“It is a term used as federal code, and it is a term that is heard frequently on many news broadcasts,” she asserted.
“I feel that if this was handled properly in the classroom, it could have easily been used as a teachable moment for everyone.”
