A Louisiana widow said she was shocked when a cemetery denied a cemetery to her husband, a black sheriff’s deputy – claiming it was “for whites only”.
Karla Semien said she tried to make arrangements at the Oaklin Springs cemetery for her husband, Allen Parish sheriff’s deputy Darrell Semien, after he died on Sunday of cancer, the KPLC news station reported.
“It was in its statute that the cemetery was ‘for whites only’,” Karla told the channel. “I kind of looked at her and she said, ‘Black people are not allowed.'”
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Darrell’s daughter, Shayla, said the woman at the cemetery showed them a contract that outlined “the right to bury the remains of white human beings”.
Deputy Darrell Semien (Allen Parish sheriff’s Facebook)
(Allen Parish Sheriff’s Facebook)
“She had paperwork on hand that she said was written more than 70 years ago,” Shayla told the KATC news station.
“If we really wanted him to be buried here, we would have to get the council’s approval because he was a man of color.”
Her family said they were shocked not only that the discriminatory rule was part of the cemetery contract, but also how the woman handled the situation.
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“[She said] just shamelessly, without remorse, ‘I can’t sell you land for your husband,’ “another of Darrell’s daughters, Kimberly Curly, told the news station.
“Everyone dies. They bleed the same way. You die. You are the same color. Death has no color, so why should it be refused?” she added.
Her widow said she only went to the cemetery at her husband’s will, because he wanted to be put to rest close to home.
“And hearing this is like we’re nothing. Was he nothing? He put his life on the line for them,” said Karla.
Creig Vizena, president of the Oaklin Springs Cemetery Association, said he was “very ashamed” to learn of the racist practice, which has been on the contract since the 1950s, when the cemetery opened.
“I promise you, it will be fixed,” Vizena told KATC.
He said he takes “full responsibility” for not having read the contract previously.
“It never happened. I take full responsibility for that. I have been chairman of this council for several years,” he said.
The cemetery said it had fired the official who sent the deputy’s family away, KATC reported.
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The Semien family said a lot was offered, but they will bury Darrell elsewhere.
“My father was not just any man, he was a phenomenal man,” Shalya told KATC. “He was a police officer in the same community for 15 years. He didn’t get a place to lie down because of his skin color.”
This report originally appeared in the New York Post.