The Liberty Justice Center has filed a lawsuit against Davidson County Schools in North Carolina on behalf of the family of a high school student who was suspended for using the term “illegal alien” during English class.
“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 unrelated to the McGhees, said in a statement. “Fortunately, young people do not shed their First Amendment rights at school, and we look forward to vindicating Christian’s rights here.”
The Liberty Justice Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, legal firm that seeks to protect economic liberty, private property rights, free speech, and other fundamental rights.
Davidson County Schools did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment regarding the lawsuit.
“Board, 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,” Ms. McGhee said. “I cannot appeal this suspension since it is less than 10 days. Racism is only a three-day suspension with no appeal when it should be a top-tier punishment.”
She went on to say that she had sent emails requesting help from the board, but they allegedly did not provide any relief for the situation. Instead, she alleged that the board shared information about her past in an effort to cause further harm.
“I have raised our son to reject racism in all its forms, but it is the school, not Christian, that injected race into this incident. It appears that this administration would rather destroy its own reputation and the reputation of my son rather than admit they made a mistake,” Ms. McGhee said in a statement.
Ms. McGhee told the board members and attendees at the meeting that she had been arrested 14 years ago for possession of pain medication, adding that she was sentenced to six years in prison but was released early and successfully reintegrated into society. She added that she had publicly shared her story during more than 30 speaking engagements to help others facing addiction.
Davidson County School Board’s chair, Alan Beck, did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.
Following his suspension, Christian returned to school, but he was reportedly “met with ostracism, bullying, and threats.”
“Concerned for his safety, his parents unenrolled him, and he is now completing the semester through a homeschooling program,” the Liberty Justice Center said in a press release.
Attorney Buck Dougherty of the Liberty Justice Center argues that the school violated the teen’s right to due process and his right to access education.
“Even though Christian asked a factual, non-threatening question—about a word the class was discussing—the school board branded him with false accusations of racism,” Mr. Dougherty said in a statement. “The school has not only violated his constitutional right to free speech but also his right to due process and his right to access education, a guaranteed right under North Carolina law. We are proud to stand beside Christian and his family in challenging this egregious violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.”
Suspension Notice
The suspension notification letter attached to the lawsuit states that Christian was suspended for three days beginning April 10 for “making a racially insensitive remark that caused a class disturbance.”The letter accuses him of “using/making [a] racially motivated comment which disrupts class,” a violation of policy 6.11 in the school handbook.
Incident
On April 9, Christian, a white male who is referred to as “C.M.” in the court documents, was reportedly excused from English class to go the restroom during a vocabulary lesson and missed part of the discussion.When he returned to the classroom, the teen allegedly raised his hand to ask a clarifying question to his English teacher about the word alien, a word included in the assignment.
“Space aliens or illegal aliens who need green cards,” he asked, according to the court documents.
“Watch your mouth,” the teacher allegedly responded.
A Hispanic student, who is identified as “R.” in the lawsuit, allegedly “joked that he was going to ‘kick C.M.’s a**.”
The class continued, but later that day, the two students were pulled out of lunch and sent to assistant principal Eric Anderson’s office.
According to court documents, Mr. Anderson spoke to each of the boys separately about the incident, chatting with the Hispanic student first.
The assistant principal then spoke to “C.M. and said that R. was ‘upset,’ ‘crying,’ and ‘offended.’”
The lawsuit states, “C.M. did not find these assertions believable because he could see that R. was not upset. But C.M. listened to Assistant Principal Anderson and told his side of the story.”
Mr. Anderson “would later recall telling C.M. that it would have been more ‘respectful’ for C.M. to phrase his question by referring to ‘those people’ who ‘need a green card.’ C.M. and R. have a good relationship. R. confided in C.M. that he was not ‘crying’ in his meeting with Anderson, nor was he ‘upset’ or ‘offended’ by C.M.’s question,” the lawsuit continues.
Mr. McGee told The Epoch Times that it is important to note that “no one was actually offended” and that his client and the other student are “friendly.” The attorney said the students told the school administrator that the incident was “no big deal.”
“No, sir, those words are a big deal,” Mr. McGee said, quoting what he claimed the vice principal had told his client.
Mr. McGee said the “irony” in this case is that the “modern, progressive approach” is often mutual understanding and empathy between parties. He said Ms. McGhee had requested a meeting with all parties to address the alleged offense.
Instead, the school chose a harsh form of punishment for an offense that he claimed was nothing more than a student asking his teacher a clarifying question about a vocabulary word.
The lawyers said that Christain was a good student academically and involved in athletics. He said his client hoped to one day get into a university and feared that this accusation of racism would hinder his future goals.
