A 16-year-old high school student in North Carolina was suspended for simply saying “illegal alien” during a discussion about the meaning of a word in English class, which ruined his chances of winning a college athletic scholarship. He said it was possible.
Christian McGee, a student at Central Davidson High School in Lexington, was suspended for three days last week for using the term in English class. The Carolina Journal reported.
His mother, Leah McGee, said the teacher assigned an assignment using the word “alien,” and Christian asked, “Aliens or illegal aliens without green cards?”
The teacher brought the matter to the assistant principal after another student became angry and threatened to fight Christian, according to the Carolina Journal.
Ultimately, his words were determined to be offensive and disrespectful to his Hispanic classmates, and he was suspended from school.
“I didn’t make a statement against anyone. I asked a question,” Christian told the outlet.
“I’m not talking about Hispanics. Everyone from other countries needs a green card, and the word ‘illegal alien’ is something you hear on the news and even find in the dictionary. Because they are actual words,” he added.
The suspension could also affect a student-athlete’s chances of earning a college sports scholarship, the magazine noted.
“As a result of his questions, our son was disciplined for ‘racism’ and suspended from school for three days,” Leah wrote in an email explaining the incident.
“He is devastated and is concerned that the racist label placed on his academic performance will jeopardize his future goals of receiving an athletics scholarship. I am worried that I will be late for classes because I have been absent for three days in a row,” she added in a message shared with the media.
Upset, the mother said the assistant principal refused to remove the suspension from the boy’s record, so the family hired a lawyer.
On Tuesday, Leah appeared on “The Pete Culliner Show” on radio station WBT and said her family used to live in the United Kingdom, and Christian said that British citizens also need a green card to live in the United States. He said there is. Newsweek reported.
She said she and her husband told the principal that “illegal alien” was a term their son could look up in a dictionary.
“This is a term used in federal law and is a term heard frequently on many news broadcasts,” Lear said on the show. “I think if this had been handled properly in the classroom, it could have easily been used as a teaching opportunity for everyone.”
Republican state Sen. Steve Jarvis said he has reached out to the school district’s superintendent about the matter, but has not yet taken a position on what to do.
“I’m just asking for an explanation and I don’t think that’s an offensive statement,” Jarvis told the newspaper. “But again, I don’t know. I don’t know the circumstances of this case.”
Popular TikTok’s X account library He agreed, saying Christian’s record could be “tarnished” by the uproar over political correctness.
“Please support this student by raising awareness for his story,” the conservative account wrote in a post that has received more than 4 million views.
Those who responded included X owner Elon Musk, who wrote: “This is ridiculous.”
Conservative celebrity Ian Miles Chong called this “insane.”
“How can I get suspended if I use the term illegal alien?” he asked.
TikTok’s Liv added, “He’s trying to get an athletic scholarship to college, so I hope the North Carolina authorities step in and make sure his record isn’t tarnished in any way.” he added.
The account added: “Just because the left is trying to change our entire language doesn’t mean we should persecute him for using the correct terminology.”
Officials at Central Davidson High School told Newsweek they could not comment on specific students due to federal protections.
“Please know that Davidson County Schools administrators take all disciplinary incidents seriously and thoroughly investigate each one,” a representative told the publication. “If the code of conduct is violated, management will take appropriate action.”
The student handbook states, “Schools may restrict a student’s right to free speech if the speech is obscene, abusive, promotes illegal drug use, or could reasonably be expected to seriously disrupt instruction.” may be established,” the Carolina Journal reported.
