It should never have happened in the first place — but at least Christian McGhee and his family can smile a bit after his school was forced to pay $20,000 in a settlement agreed to late last week.
McGhee, 16, was suspended for three days last year by his North Carolina high school. His crime? Using the words “illegal alien” to describe illegal aliens.
Now, not only is he getting the settlement money, The Carolina Journal reported that he’s “set to receive a public apology from the Davidson County Board of Education for mischaracterizing the student in a racially biased manner.”
“As part of the proposed settlement, the school board will remove all references to racial bias in the teen’s school record, offer a public apology from the board for mischaracterizing him in a racially biased way in his school records, and provide $20,000 in compensation,” the paper reported. “The monetary compensation is intended to help with the costs of the new private school Christian transferred to following the incident.”
The dust-up began in April 2024, when during an English class at his high school, he used the term during a vocabulary lesson at Central Davidson High School in Lexington, North Carolina.
The school said that the suspension was for “making a racially insensitive remark that caused a class disturbance.” The U.K.’s Daily Mail said that his teacher had used the word alien, and the then-sophomore asked if she was talking about “space aliens or illegal aliens who need green cards.”
A Hispanic classmate, in response, said he wanted to “kick his a**.”
“I didn’t make a statement directed towards anyone — I asked a question,” the student said in response to the suspension last year.
His mother, Leah McGhee, wrote in an email that she was worried his suspension, in addition to being unfair, could damage his ability to get an athletic scholarship.
Should the officials responsible for this student’s suspension lose their jobs?
“Because of his question, our son was disciplined and given THREE days OUT of school suspension for ‘racism,’” she wrote in an email.
“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.”
In court filings, meanwhile, the school pointed toward its policy, which said that “students shall not use profanity, obscenity, fighting or abusive words or otherwise engage in speech that disrupts (written, symbolic or verbal) and/or materially and substantially disrupts the classroom or other school activities.” [Emphasis theirs.]
This rule, the Davidson County School District told the court, “recognizes the importance of First Amendment protections but states correctly that schools may limit free speech where it could cause a substantial disruption.”
The case became a cause on the right — including for Donald Trump, who wrote Christian a letter, which thanked him for “defending our America-First values” and said, “do not be discouraged by the radical leftists who will stop at nothing to decimate the freedoms we have worked tirelessly to achieve,” the Daily Mail reported.
More critically, however, they were represented by the Liberty Justice Center, a nonprofit which focuses on free speech issues in education. That representation, apparently, reached an appropriate settlement for both student and family.
“On Friday, we filed a motion asking the court to approve a settlement that would resolve this matter,” said Dean McGee, senior counsel for educational freedom with the nonprofit, the Carolina Journal reported.
“Because Christian is a minor, a court hearing is required before the settlement can become final. We’ll have more to say after that hearing, but we’re pleased to take this important step toward clearing our client’s name.”
While the settlement said the grounds for the suspension were still legitimate because of the school’s policy, according to a joint statement, the school was retracting the accusation that the comment he made was racially insensitive.
“The Parties in C.M. v. Davidson County Board of Education are pleased to announce a settlement that will allow the family, our schools, and our community to move forward from this incident,” the statement read.
“While the Board maintains that the disciplinary action imposed was appropriate due to class disruption caused by the comments at issue, the Board apologizes for the mischaracterization of racial bias arising from Christian’s comments and will remove any reference to race or racial bias as a motive for the comments from his educational record, which contains no other incidences of discipline related to racial bias.”
The school district also apologized for one of its board members posting online about Leah McGhee being arrested 14 years ago for possession of pain medication.
“The Board also acknowledges the inappropriate response to this matter by a sitting member. That member has taken accountability for their actions and has privately apologized to the family,” the statement added.
BREAKING: Christian McGhee, the North Carolina teen who was suspended from school for using the term “illegal alien” in class, will receive $20,000 and a public apology from the Davidson County Board of Education (@dcsnc) after they falsely accused him of “racial bias.” https://t.co/J4AoRY1plt pic.twitter.com/Fb1PFiJpPU
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 4, 2025
It’s worth noting that, in the ultimate object lesson in what gets called the Iron Law of Woke Projection, the member who posted that information — Ashley Carroll — is no longer with the school board. Why, pray tell? A DWI arrest this April.
Not that I believe in the phony spiritual concept that undergirds the pop-culture term, but apparently Radiohead’s “Karma Police” really do exist.
Whatever the case, a fitting end to a worthy fight — albeit one that came far too late and never should have occurred in the first place because there should never have been a suspension. But what’s passed has passed, so we must give one final commendation: Our hats are off to you, Christian McGhee. Never give in and never give up, young man, and godspeed in your future endeavors.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
