NC student was suspended after saying ‘illegal aliens’ need green cards. He’s suing.
A North Carolina family has filed a federal lawsuit against a school district that suspended their son for saying in class that “illegal aliens” need green cards.
Christian McGhee asked his English teacher at Central Davidson High School whether her reference to the word aliens referred to “space aliens, or illegal aliens who need green cards.”
Christian was suspended for three days in April, according to school records, for making a “racially motivated” and “racially insensitive” comment.
The family filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court accusing the Davidson County school system of violating their son’s rights to free speech, education and due process. The family wants monetary damages and for the suspension to be removed from school records.
“There is nothing inappropriate about saying aliens need green cards, and there certainly isn’t a case for racism due to the fact that alien is not a race,” Leah McGhee, Christian’s mother, said during public comments at this week’s Davidson County school board meeting.
Publicity about the suspension has sparked national attention and outrage among some conservatives. Elon Musk, the owner of X, formerly called Twitter, has called the suspension “absurd.”
The Davidson County school system did not return email and telephone requests for comment Wednesday from The News & Observer.
Asking teacher about ‘illegal aliens’
Christian was formerly a 16-year-old sophomore at Central Davidson High in Lexington, which is south of Winston-Salem and about 110 miles west of Raleigh.
Christian is listed as C.M. in the lawsuit that was filed on the family’s behalf by the Chicago-based Liberty Justice Family. His parents have been public about their son’s suspension.
Christian missed part of a vocabulary lesson in Haley Hill’s English class on April 9 when he went to the bathroom, the lawsuit says.
“Upon his return to English class, the word ‘aliens’ was used during class discussion,” according to the lawsuit. “C.M. raised his hand and asked Ms. Hill whether the reference to aliens referred to ‘space aliens or illegal aliens who need green cards.’” Hill responded and said, “Watch your mouth [C.M.].”
A Hispanic classmate joked he was going to kick Christian’s “ass,” according to the lawsuit.
Both students were called into Assistant Principal Eric Anderson’ office. The classmate later told Christian he wasn’t “upset” or “offended” by his question, according to the lawsuit.
The following day, Christian received the three-day suspension from school. The track athlete was also barred from participating in the Senior Night home track meet.
Family says comment was not racially motivated
The lawsuit contains a copy of the school suspension notice, which says Christian “made a racially insensitive comment, in class today, about an alien ‘needing a green card.’” The notice also accuses him of “using/making racially motivated comment which disrupts class.”
According to the lawsuit, Anderson told Christian’s parents that reversing the 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.”
But the lawsuit denies that Christian’s words were racist or caused a significant disruption. Instead, the lawsuit says “alien,” “illegal alien” and green card are common terms and that Christian made a “factual” and “non-threatening” statement.
The lawsuit says the family withdrew Christian from the school after receiving threats and being bullied and harassed about the suspension. He’s now being home-schooled.
“School officials have effectively fabricated a racial incident out of thin air and branded our client as a racist without even giving him an opportunity to appeal,” Dean McGee, Educational Freedom Attorney at the Liberty Justice Center, said in a news release. “Fortunately, young people do not shed their First Amendment rights at school, and we look forward to vindicating Christian’s rights here.”
