A Louisiana cemetery apologised after the widow of a Black sheriff's deputy was denied a burial spot because it was 'whites only' graveyard Kelly McLaughlin Blank gravestone with other graves in the background (file photo). A cemetery in Louisiana denied a burial plot to a Black man on Tuesday, saying it was "whites only." The cemetery changed its policy after the deputy's widow, Karla Semien, spoke publicly against it. Semien said her late husband's friends referred her, and was unaware Black people weren't allowed. A cemetery in southwest Louisiana apologised after a Black man was denied a burial plot because the graveyard had a "whites only" sales policy.