School District Settles Case After Suspending Teen for Using Term “Illegal Alien”
Student has secured a significant victory for free speech in North Carolina
By Jonathan Turley
Christian McGhee, 17, has secured a significant victory for free speech in North Carolina after the Davidson County Board of Education settled a case over his suspension for using the term “illegal alien.” What is disturbing is that, once again, the school officials themselves appear to have escaped any accountability for their abusive treatment of this student.
Christian received a three-day suspension for using the phrase while discussing word meanings during his English class at Central Davidson High School in Lexington on April 9, 2024.
A teacher gave the teen an assignment that used the word “alien,” and he asked, “Like space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards?” After a Hispanic student in McGhee’s class “joked” that he was going to “kick Christian’s ass,” the teacher escalated the matter to Central Davidson’s assistant principal, Eric Anderson.
It was Anderson who “declared that his comment was racially motivated” that resulted in the suspension. When Leah McGhee attempted to appeal the suspension, school administrators refused to back down. The Board members also gave her the stiff arm.
She then retained an attorney with the Liberty Justice Center’s Educational Freedom group and filed a lawsuit under the first amendment.
The board has now agreed to remove all references to racial bias in McGhee’s school record and issue a public apology “for the mischaracterization of racial bias” in his record, documents show.
The problem is that there is no indication that the school officials or Board members responsible for this travesty will be held accountable in any way. They not only abused his young man, but they cost the county money in litigation and settlement. After forcing this family into court, they are now just shrugging and walking away.
Until these officials incur real consequences for such actions, this pattern will continue to repeat itself.
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(TLB) published this article from Jonathan Turley with our appreciation for this perspective
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley.
Header featured image (edited) credit: Face Book /The Hodgetwins’s post.Google public card
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