She said she knows Creston is better than what the photo shows and she hopes the city’s reaction reflects that.

African-Americans in Creston, including current and former students at the high school, said they had experienced instances of racism before but were caught off guard by the photo’s brazenness. The Census Bureau says Creston, a city of about 7,830 about 100 miles southeast of Omaha, is 96 percent white and 1 percent black.

“It’s just something I never thought would have come to Creston,” said Austin Bloyd, 15, a sophomore who plays on the basketball team. “It’s just sad that potential friends of mine would even consider doing anything like that. ... I’ve got to know who my friends are and who to surround myself with.”

One of his friends is Kylan Smallwood, the football team’s quarterback, whose mother is white and father is black.

“I’ve never had to go through anything like that” said Kylan, 16.

Older sister Tanna Smallwood, 20, came home from Iowa State University after seeing the photo to be with her family.