A 16-year-old high school boy from North Carolina was suspended for three days after using the term “illegal alien” on a vocabulary assignment.
According to the Christian’s mother, Leah McGhee, he was given a list of vocabulary words by his teacher at Central Davidson High School in Lexington. One of the words in the list was “alien” and Christian, not sure exactly what the term referred to, asked, “Like space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards?”
An email obtained by the Carolina Journal said that another high school student was offended by the question asked by Christian and threatened to fight the 16-year-old.
The assistant principal was notified of the situation, hence, the school administration had to take on the question of whether the boy’s use of the term “illegal alien” in his question was offensive and disrespectful to Hispanic students.
Eventually, the school administration decided to discipline Christian and suspend him for three days for racism.
The teen made it clear that he was not trying to disrespect anyone with his question.
“I didn’t make a statement directed towards anyone; I asked a question. 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,” he said.
McGhee is worried about the toll the three-day suspension and racism label will take on her son, as she says the school’s assistant principal has refused to remove the suspension from his record.
“He is devastated and concerned that the racism label on his school record will harm his future goal of receiving a track scholarship. We are concerned that he will fall behind in his classes due to being absent for three consecutive days,” she said.
McGhee made an appearance on “The Pete Kaliner Show,” airing on radio station WBT, to discuss the issue. She noted that the school administrators did not handle the situation appropriately, saying, “It is a term used as federal code, and it is a term that is heard frequently on many news broadcasts. I feel that if this was handled properly in the classroom, it could have easily been used as a teachable moment for everyone.”
Christian’s case was taken up by the Libs of TikTok account. A post about him reads, “This is Christian. He’s a 16-year-old student in @CDHSSPARTANS. He was suspended for 3 days after using the term “illegal alien” in an English assignment because it’s “offensive” and “disrespectful.” Now his record could be damaged. Please support this based student by helping to raise awareness to his story!”
This is Christian. He’s a 16-year-old student in @CDHSSPARTANS.
He was suspended for 3 days after using the term “illegal alien” in an English assignment because it’s “offensive” and “disrespectful.” Now his record could be damaged.
Please support this based student by helping… pic.twitter.com/kz9GGtKmI4
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 16, 2024
“Hopefully North Carolina officials can step in and ensure his record isn’t tarnished in any way because he’s trying to secure an athletic scholarship for college. He should not be persecuted for using the correct term just because the left is trying to change our entire language,” the account added.
Hopefully North Carolina officials can step in and ensure his record isn’t tarnished in any way because he’s trying to secure an athletic scholarship for college. He should not be persecuted for using the correct term just because the left is trying to change our entire language. pic.twitter.com/7JY5yQ04HB
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 16, 2024
