Keaton Jones' Mother: 'Yesterday He Was a Hero, Today the World Hates'

Kimberly Jones, whose son Keaton Jones was the star of a viral anti-bullying video, said the Facebook photo of her family with a Confederate flag was meant to be "ironic and funny" and insisted that the family is not racist.

"I mean, you know, yesterday, he was a hero. Yesterday, the world loved us. Today, the world hates us," Jones told Access Hollywood Tuesday. "And I'm trying to think that I was trying not to get caught up in the positives. We're not going to get caught up in the negatives."

"That's not who we are," Jones said of the accusations of racism in an ABC News interview.

Jones also confirmed that the Facebook photo of her family standing with a Confederate flag is authentic, but those who know the family know they are not racist.

"I feel like anybody who wants to take the time to ask anybody who I am or even troll through some other pictures, I mean I feel like we're not racist," the Knoxville, Tennessee mother told ABC News. "I mean, people that know us, know us."

The photo with the flag "was meant to be ironic and funny and extreme."

"I am genuinely, truly sorry," Jones added. "If I could take it back I would."

Jones' 11-year-old son Keaton became a viral star over the weekend after she posted a video of him in tears after he was bullied at school. Keaton said his classmates poured milk on him and threw bread at him at lunch.

"Why do you find joy in taking innocent people and finding a way to be mean to 'em?" Keaton said in the video. "It's not okay...People that are different don't need to be criticized about it. It's not their fault."

Keaton got support from celebrities across the country, with actor Chris Evans even inviting him to the new Avengers premiere next year. But internet sleuths found the photo of his mother with the Confederate flag, which lead some to question her intentions.

"I made the video to raise awareness for bullying, not for fame or fortune, it was not at all for that. It was to raise awareness to bullying," Keaton told GMA. "[It's] a serious thing that goes on in our society. People criticize other people for the way they look and act; it's not their fault."

Jones told GMA that there is one verified GoFundMe page to help her family, but others are fake.

"If they want to hate me or whatever that's fine, but still talk to your kids because this is an epidemic," she said when asked about accusations that she released the video to make money. "This is an epidemic."

Keaton's sister Lakyn also defended her mother and brother.

"Those who know me and my family know we aren't racist. My brother doesn't say the 'N' word. Please leave it alone," Lakyn tweeted.

She also told a Twitter user, "I am from the south. You'll see a million flags like that. Doesn't mean we are racist."