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WEBVTT MET A NUMBEROF STUDENTS.>> I AM CONFUSED AND SHAKEN BYTHE THING.rt>> THIS IS ONE OF THE MINORITYSTUDENTS AND HE TELLS US HEKNOWS ALL THE STUDENTS IN THEPICTURE AND THIS IS SOMETHING HErtTHOUGHT DIFFERENTLY ABOUT.>> HE SAYS HE IS PREPARED TODEAL WITH THIS AND HrtE SAID HE ISNOT PREPARED FOR THE SYMBOLS OFRACISM OR THE FACT THAT SOME OFTHE YOUNG MEN HAVE BEEN IN HISHOME.rt>> IT HURTS.THESE ARE GOOD KIDS.>> HE MAY BE READY TO GIVErt --FORGIVE AND FORGET.>> HE SAYS THAT THE STAFFINGCLASS WHOrt RALLIED BEHIND HIMGAVE HIM THE SUPPORT HE NEEDED.THE PRINCIPAL CALLS THE PICTUREEMBARRASSING AND SAID AND SAIDrtTHAT THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR THECOMMUNITY.>> IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE KIDSKNOW THEY ARE VALUED FOR WHOTHEY ARE.rt>> WHY THE STUDENTS TOOK THEPICTURE IS NOT KNOWN.>> IT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DONE.

Advertisement Students disciplined over disturbing racially charged photo School administrators in Creston have confirmed that some students are being disciplined over a photo shared on social media. Share Shares Copy Link Copy

School administrators in southern Iowa said Wednesday they have disciplined several high school students who appeared in a photo wearing white hoods and waving a Confederate flag next to a burning cross. Creston Community High School administrators told KCCI that steps have been taken to discipline the students, but the extent of their punishment wasn’t immediately clear. The principal said he is embarrassed over the photo, which has been shared hundreds of times on social media. In the photo, it appears five students are clothed in Ku Klux Klan apparel while waving a Confederate flag – even though Iowa fought on the Union side in the Civil War. One student is also holding a gun in the photo. “It just wasn’t really expected at all,” student Austin Bloyd, who is black, said. “Some of those guys are my friends. I didn’t really think that they thought that way. I’m kind of confused and (shaken) up by the whole thing. “I hope it’s a bad joke and they didn’t really mean anything by it.” School officials said it’s not a representation of the community, and an investigation has been launched. Students said they are saddened over the nature of the photo, especially given recent racially charged attacks in the nation, such as in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina. The students involved in the incident have not been identified, and school officials said the photo was not taken on school grounds.