Adapted from “The Michael Knowles Show,” April 17, 2023. 

A student at a school in North Carolina was recently suspended for using the phrase “illegal alien.” 16-year-old Christian McGhee’s suspension spanned three days because the phrase is supposedly offensive and disrespectful. Because of this, his academic record could now be damaged and affect other parts of his educational journey. Who knows? This might even affect where he goes to college.

This is Christian. He’s a 16-year-old student in @CDHSSPARTANS.

He was suspended for 3 days after using the term “illegal alien” in an English assignment because it’s “offensive” and “disrespectful.” Now his record could be damaged.

Please support this based student by helping… pic.twitter.com/kz9GGtKmI4

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 16, 2024

Why is Christian being punished? Apparently because he used a phrase that is precise.

Until recently, this was a phrase that was used by our federal government. It is a phrase that is quite clinical. “Illegal” means “not legal,” and “alien” means “foreigner.” So, “illegal alien” refers to people who are foreigners: subjects of a foreign state who come into our country illegally.

Exactly what term should be used instead of “illegal alien”? What term was Christian supposed to use? The liberals would probably answer that they want him to use a term like “undocumented American.” But he is not an American; he is a foreigner. While he may have some kind of documents in his own country, he does not have any documents here.

To this, the liberals might suggest using “dreamer,” to which I would respond that I am a dreamer. I have dreams almost every night. But we are discussing a different matter here. So, the liberals might pose using the term “future citizen” — although what they really want to use is “future Democrat voter.” After all, it’s all the same euphemism, right?

In his English assignment, Christian used clear, descriptive language rather than a mealy mouthed, prevaricating euphemism. This student is being punished for that. He is being punished for writing well. That’s where we are at in American education.

In 1946, George Orwell wrote an essay titled, “Politics in the English Language.” In it, he describes how to write clearly and to write well. Use simple words and evocative words, not mealy mouthed words. Use good old Anglo-Saxon words, not these kind of squishy Latin words. We want to say what we mean, and we want to mean what we say. We want an economy of language. We want to be clear and concise. That is what Christian did, and he was punished for it.

WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show

In our schools today, specifically in sex-education classes, students are taught that boys are girls and girls are boys. That is not sex education. That is mal-education. Students learn that America is an evil, rotten, terrible country and was founded to promote genocide. That is not history. That is anti-history. Students learn Common Core math, which is usually not math but rather a kind of anti-math. Students learn there is no such thing as truth, and we can never know anything about truth. That is not philosophy. That is anti-philosophy.

And now, students can walk into their English classes, write well, and get points taken off and perhaps get a mark on your record. You get suspended from school. That is not English language or writing; that is anti-writing, anti-rhetoric, and anti-oratory. That is mal-education. This particular student is being punished for trying to learn, write, and speak well.

For any student who experiences a punishment for this, I hope the student is absolved. Calling attention to these stories is a critical method of support. This student’s particular school is obviously terrible, and the teachers who push this type of initiative should be fired — not only because they transgressed a political line, but also because they are not doing their jobs well. This English teacher is teaching students to write poorly. And I feel bad for all the other students at this high school who are obviously being failed by their education.

Your education will stick with you, and if your child is raised to have their head filled with nonsense while at the same time being unable to use the English language well, they have missed an opportunity — and been set up for failure.