Teen Suspended and Dubbed a Racist for Saying ‘Illegal Alien’ Wins $20K, Apology From School

There’s justice for a North Carolina teen wrongly suspended and branded a racist for using the phrase “illegal alien.”

Last year, 16-year-old Christian McGhee of Central Davidson High School in Lexington, North Carolina, was given an English assignment: Write about aliens. Being an intelligent lad, Christian asked the teacher a logical question: “Like space aliens or illegal aliens who need green cards?”

A Hispanic classmate had heard his innocent question and threatened to “kick his a**.” 

Next thing you know, Christian was dragged to the assistant principal’s office and suspended for three days, even though his classmate insisted he’d been joking about the butt-kicking and wasn’t offended in the slightest, and even though Christian was just trying to clarify what the teacher wanted.

“I didn’t make a statement directed towards anyone. I asked a question,” Christian told the Carolina Journal, “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 school accused Christian of “making a racially insensitive remark that caused a class disturbance” and “racially-motivated comment” for his “offensive” use of the term “illegal aliens.”

As McGhee’s attorney, Dean McGee, put it after filing suit against the Davidson County Board of Education and the assistant principal: “The school’s stance seems to be this was offensive even if no one in class actually found it to be offensive.”

After a year of legal wrangling, the Davidson County school district has now settled with the teen, pending a judge’s approval. As the Carolina Journal reports, the school board will remove all references to racial bias in the teen’s school record, offer a public apology for “the mischaracterization of racial bias,” and provide $20,000 in compensation.”

The money will help pay for Christian to attend a new private school.

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