A North Carolina high school put political correctness ahead of education when it suspended a student over words.

But Christian McGhee was suspended for three days from Central Davidson High School, not because of profanity, or threatening anyone with her words. The 16-year-old used the term “illegal alien” in class. And this occurred during a lesson in which the student sought to clarify whether the word ‘alien’ was being used to refer to “space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards.”

“According to an email describing the incident, sent to local officials and shared with Carolina Journal, a young man in class took offense to his question and reportedly threatened to fight him, prompting the teacher to call in the assistant principal. Ultimately, his words were deemed by administrative staff to be offensive and disrespectful to classmates who are Hispanic,” The Carolina Journal reported.

INSANITY!

16 year-old Christian McGhee who is a student at Central Davidson High School in Lexington, North Carolina was suspended for 3 days after using the term ‘illegal alien’ during a vocabulary assignment in his English class.

Christian’s words were deemed by… pic.twitter.com/ALqOLbLLSX

— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) April 16, 2024

“I didn’t make a statement directed towards anyone — I asked a question,” the student told the newspaper after his question earned him a three-day suspension as well as a mark on his academic record.

“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,” he added.

If this kid’s family needs a lawyer … https://t.co/rI7UdgcypR

— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) April 17, 2024

“Because of his question, our son was disciplined and given THREE days OUT of school suspension for ‘racism,’” his mother, Leah McGhee, wrote in an email letter to the newspaper and local officials.

“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,” she wrote.

The story has garnered attention as it was shared on social media, even prompting X owner Elon Musk to respond.

This is absurd

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 16, 2024

The family is reportedly working with an attorney as the assistant principal has refused to reconsider the mark on the teen’s record.

“If this was handled properly in the classroom, it could’ve easily been used as a teachable moment for everyone,” the mother told WBT’s Pete Kaliner show. “Our family feels that suspension and a label of racism is an extreme in this case. I feel that the negligence of the administration’s decision fueled the injustice to a student who simply asked for clarification from a teacher.”

My interview with Leah McGhee about her son’s suspension from a NC high school, for saying the words “illegal alien.”#NCpol #NCed #NCGA https://t.co/8DscPzfdgc

— Pete Kaliner (@PeteKaliner) April 16, 2024

According to the Davidson County Schools student handbook, “schools may place restrictions on a student’s right to free speech when the speech is obscene, abusive, promoting illegal drug use, or is reasonably expected to cause a substantial disruption to the school day.”

“I do not see that that would be an offensive statement, just in getting clarification,” Republican state Senator Steve Jarvis, who contacted the school district’s superintendent about the situation, told the Carolina Journal. “But there again, I don’t know. I don’t know the situation of this particular incident.”