A 16-year-old boy has been suspended from high school for using the correct legal term “illegal alien” in class.
Christian McGhee, a student at Central Davidson High School in Lexington, North Carolina, was suspended for three days last week.
He was punished for using the term “illegal alien” during a vocabulary assignment in his English class.
“Illegal alien” is the correct term for a foreign national who has entered the country illegally and is often used in legal documents and legislation as such.
The dictionary definition of “alien” states that the word means a person or creature who is from somewhere else such as a foreign country or another planet.
Despite claims from the Left, “illegal alien” is a legal term and it is not derogatory.
The student’s mom, Leah McGhee, said her son’s teacher assigned vocabulary words during class last Tuesday.
The assignment included the word “alien.”
McGhee says her son made an effort to understand the assignment and responded to his teacher, asking, “Like space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards?”
An email describing the incident was sent to local officials and shared with the Carolina Journal.
According to the email, a young man in class took offense to his question and reportedly threatened to fight him.
The confrontation prompted the teacher to call in the assistant principal.
Ultimately, his words were deemed by administrative staff to be “offensive” and “disrespectful” to classmates who are Hispanic.
“I didn’t make a statement directed towards anyone; I asked a question,” the student said in response to 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.”
The immigration status of the Hispanic students is unclear.
In addition to the three-day suspension, his record could be damaged as he aims to secure an athletic college scholarship.
He is actively involved in school clubs, track, and cross country.
“Because of his question, our son was disciplined and given THREE days OUT of school suspension for ‘racism,’” wrote his mother in the email.
“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.”
Leah said the assistant principal has so far refused to remove the infraction from her son’s record.
The family is working with an attorney to remedy the situation so it doesn’t harm his future.
They expect more developments in the days ahead.
Meanwhile, State Senator Steve Jarvis (R-Davidson) said he contacted the school district’s superintendent to make him aware of the situation.
Jarvis told the Carolina Journal that while he informed top officials of the issue.
The Republican lawmaker is urging officials to look for the best outcome.
However, Jarvis said he won’t take a stance on what they should do because he wasn’t there to understand all sides of the story.
“I do not see that that would be an offensive statement, just in getting clarification,” said Jarvis.
“But there again, I don’t know.
“I don’t know the situation of this particular incident.”
An official at Davidson County Schools said the district could not provide details on a student matter.
The student handbook says that “schools may place restrictions on a student’s right to free speech when the speech is obscene, abusive, promoting illegal drug use, or is reasonably expected to cause a substantial disruption to the school day.”
The school did not make it clear how the use of the term “illegal alien” would violate this policy.
State legislators have propelled school choice forward in North Carolina to give parents and students alternative education options.
More than 72,000 applications flooded the Opportunity Scholarship program this February in record-breaking demand.
Additional funds will likely expand the program’s budget due to the surging demand.
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