A student at Central Davidson High School in Lexington, North Carolina, found themselves in hot water after using the term “illegal alien” during a class discussion and subsequently receiving a suspension.
As per The Carolina Journal, the 16-year-old student got suspended after incorporating the term “illegal alien” into a question while working on a vocabulary assignment for an English class.
The incident unfolded when the student, assigned a list of vocabulary words that included “alien,” inquired innocently, “Like space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards?”
However, one of the student’s peers took offense to the term and purportedly threatened physical altercation, prompting the teacher to involve the assistant principal. The teenager’s use of the term was then deemed offensive to Hispanic classmates.
The student clarified their intention, stating, “I didn’t make a statement directed towards anyone; I asked a question. 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.”
Expressing concern over the repercussions, the student’s mother, Leah McGhee, lamented in an email to local officials, “Because of his question, our son was disciplined and given THREE days OUT of school suspension for ‘racism.’ He is devastated and concerned that the racism label on his school record will harm his future goal of receiving a track scholarship. We are concerned that he will fall behind in his classes due to being absent for three consecutive days.”
Despite appeals, the assistant principal has reportedly refused to rescind the suspension from the student’s record. In response, the family is seeking legal assistance to ensure that the incident does not impede the student’s future opportunities.
