A high school student at Central Davidson High School in Lexington, North Carolina was suspended for three days after using the term “illegal alien” in class. 16-year-old Christian McGee was being assigned a list of vocabulary words in his English class, with one of the words being “alien.” McGee then asked if the term was “Like space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards?” Another student in the class reportedly took offense to the phrase, threatening to beat McGee up, resulting in administration being called to resolve the disturbance.

According to Christian’s mother, Leah, speaking on “The Pete Kaliner Show,” administrators took the two boys into the hallway to resolve the issue. Christian stated he had not meant it in an offensive way and the other student claimed he had been joking about beating Christian up. However, after the students were dismissed for lunch, Leah stated the school’s assistant principal took the other student aside and asked if he felt the comment had been racially motivated. At 2:30 that day, Christian was written up for a “racially insensitive comment” against Hispanics. He also received a 3-day suspension. “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,” said Christian regarding the situation. Leah noted in her interview with Kaliner that they have family from England that also need a green card.

Christian’s parents spoke to the school to have the suspension revoked as it kept Christian from participating from track events. The family is also concerned that the mark on his record will affect his chances of a track scholarship. “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,” Leah wrote in an email. The school refused to comment in a statement to Newsweek. “Please know that Davidson County Schools administrators take all discipline incidents seriously and investigate each one thoroughly. Any violation of the code of conduct is handled appropriately by administrators,” said a representative. The story has gained national attention, being featured by Libs of TikTok on X. Elong Musk responded to the post, calling the situation “absurd.” Libs of TikTok also chimed in, defending Christian. “He should not be persecuted for using the correct term just because the left is trying to change our entire language.”