A North Carolina teenager is embroiled in a First Amendment and due process battle after he was suspended and subjected to outrageous racism accusations for simply asking a question in English class.
Christian McGhee, a 16-year-old high school sophomore, was punished by the Davidson County School District last month after he raised his hand and asked his teacher if the word “aliens” referred to “space aliens or illegal aliens who need green cards.” It seems like a completely innocuous question, right? Wrong.
Instead of engaging in a healthy classroom discussion about the meaning of vocabulary words, the school administration decided to equate McGhee’s question to a “vicious racial slur.” Yes, you read that correctly. A simple question about the definition of a word was twisted and manipulated to paint a hardworking student as a racist.
🚨BREAKING: A North Carolina high school student was suspended last week for asking his teacher for clarification on the word ‘alien’ on a vocabulary assignment. The student asked his teacher, ‘like, space aliens or aliens without green cards?’ pic.twitter.com/TnDFd20S7N
— Crisis in the Classroom (@CITClassroom) April 17, 2024
And the madness doesn’t stop there. After the class, McGhee and another student were taken to the principal’s office, where they were interrogated about the “incident.” The other boy, a Hispanic male, reportedly joked that he was going to “kick Christian’s ass” before the class returned to normal. But get this – the Hispanic student himself said he was not “upset” or “offended” by McGhee’s question.
Despite no evidence of any “substantial disruption” to the class and the fact that the other student was not actually offended, McGhee was still suspended. To make matters worse, the school allowed him to be labeled as a racist, leading to bullying and threats from his classmates. His parents ultimately pulled him out of school and decided to homeschool him for the rest of the year.
But McGhee’s family is not taking this attack on their son’s character lying down. They have filed a lawsuit against the Davidson County School District, demanding that his name be cleared and damages be awarded at trial.
Mother of son suspended for using term ‘illegal alien’ in class calls for removal of two ‘corrupt’ Davidson County school board members. @CarolinaJournal #ncpol pic.twitter.com/A34WWy8b1H
— Brianna Kraemer (@BriKraemer99) May 7, 2024
The hypocrisy of this situation is astounding. While the school prides itself on promoting diversity and inclusivity, they are actively silencing a student for expressing his thoughts and asking a legitimate question. This is a textbook example of liberal indoctrination and political correctness run amok.
It’s important to note that the Merriam-Webster dictionary has not removed “illegal alien” from its pages. It is still defined as “a foreign person who is living in a country without having official permission to live there.” But instead of standing by this widely accepted definition, the school chose to label a student as a racist and deny him his right to free speech.
This case not only highlights the dangers of vague speech guidelines in schools but also sets a dangerous precedent for students’ ability to express themselves freely in a classroom setting. But ultimately, it is a battle for the truth. Will the court stand by the established definition of a word, or will they succumb to the pressure of political correctness and censorship?
We must support Christian McGhee and his family in their fight for justice and protecting our First Amendment rights. Our children deserve to learn in an environment where they are encouraged to think critically and express themselves freely – not one where they are punished for simply asking a question.
