Louisiana Cemetery Under Fire For Denying Black Police Officer's Burial

The board president at a small cemetery in Louisiana has apologized after denying burial for a Black deputy policeman because of his race, though the family has since scheduled funeral arrangements elsewhere.

Darrell Semien, 55, died Sunday after a battle with colon cancer. He said he wanted to be buried near his home in Oberlin, La., but his widow, Karla, said the family was refused because of his race.

“Oh, we’re going to have a dispute. We can’t sell you a plot,” she recalled in comments to The Washington Post. “This is a Whites-only cemetery. There are no coloreds here.”

The incident follows a year where racial injustice was a high-profile issue. Remarking in the same report, cemetery board president Creig Vizena said it was a regrettable situation.

“I truly hate that all this has happened,” he said. “It’s a sad week in this community, and fixing it as fast as we could is not going to make it any less sad.”

KLFY in Lafayette, La., reported that the small Oaklin Springs Cemetery had a contract from the 1950s that allowed for only white burials. Anyone seeking a burial there must sign that contract, but board officials said they never noticed the clause on skin color.

“I’m sorry. I have no better explanation for it than that,” the cemetery board president said.

The Associated Press added that board officials held an emergency meeting Thursday to review the case and removed the provision on race from its contract.

"When that meeting was over it was like a weight lifted off of me," Vizena, who has since apologized to the Semien family, told the AP.

The issue, however, is far from over. Kimberly, one of the Semien’s seven children, said the odds of this being the first such case ever for the Oaklin cemetery are slim.

“His main duty was to protect and serve,” she added in remarks to KLFY. “He didn’t put his badge on and say, ‘I’m only going to protect the blacks because they’re blacks. I’m just leaving white people out of it.’ No. He protected and served everybody no matter what the color is.”

The funeral for the 55-year-old Semien is Saturday in Oberlin, honoring his wishes. But the ceremony will be held elsewhere, at the Sonnier Cemetery.