A North Carolina student suspended for using the term “illegal aliens” in class has sued the school district, saying he was bullied and ostracized after being falsely “branded as a racist.”
Christian McGhee, 16, received a three-day out-of-school suspension last month for asking during a vocabulary lesson whether the word “aliens” meant “space aliens, or illegal aliens who need green cards.” He was also banned from a late-season track meet.
Three weeks after the suspension, his parents withdrew him from Central Davidson High School and enrolled him in a certified homeschooling program “in response to the threats and hostility of the administration,” according to the lawsuit.
“Even though Christian asked a factual, non-threatening question — about a word the class was discussing — the school board branded him with false accusations of racism,” said Buck Dougherty, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, which represents the McGhee family.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina accuses the Davidson County Board of Education of “violating his rights to free speech, education, and due process.”
“The school has not only violated his constitutional right to free speech, but also his right to due process and his right to access education, a guaranteed right under North Carolina law,” Mr. Dougherty said. “We are proud to stand beside Christian and his family in challenging this egregious violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.”
The lawsuit also names assistant principal Eric Anderson, who gave Christian the April 9 suspension.
The school said Christian was suspended for “making a racially insensitive remark that caused a class disturbance,” while the lawsuit argued that “illegal alien” is a widely used term and that the comment caused no significant disruption.
A Hispanic student in the class said that he would “kick [Christian]’s ass,” but said he was joking after he and Christian were pulled into the hallway by an administrator. The other boy received a “brief in-school suspension” for his comment.
The lawsuit also said that Christian and the other student have a “good relationship.” The boy told Christian later that he was not “offended,” “upset,” or “crying” about the incident, contradicting what Christian said he was told by the assistant principal.
Mr. Anderson told Christian’s parents that it had been the school’s practice since August 2023 to deliver “harsh” punishment “anytime there is something said that’s racially insensitive.”
“He declared that reversing C.M.’s suspension would be ‘unfair to the 15 other kids who have served [suspension] for saying the N word or anything else under the sun that’s racially charged that creates a disruption in the classroom,’” the complaint said.
The board later upheld Mr. Anderson’s decision to suspend the sophomore. The Washington Times has reached out to the district for comment.
The lawsuit said that the suspension notification could interfere with Christian’s plans to earn a track scholarship and attend college, even though the “comment and the words he used were factual and nonthreatening.”
“Indeed, C.M. used the same words in Hill’s English class at school that have been used by Congress, the North Carolina General Assembly, Supreme Court justices, and countless other state and federal judges and officials,” the complaint said.
The terms “illegal alien” and “illegal immigrant” have become unacceptable on the left. The Associated Press Stylebook banned the use of “illegal immigrant” in 2013, saying actions but not people should be described as illegal.
President Biden said in March that he regrets using “illegal” to refer to the illegal immigrant charged with killing 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, saying he should have used the term “undocumented.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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