The issue of segregation has haunted the people of Camilla, Georgia even in death, due to a fence that separated the graves of blacks and whites in the city's Oakview Cemetery. Last Thursday, that fence was finally removed, reports ABC News. 

Some, including the city's mayor, were upset with how the fence was taken down: in the middle of the night, with no pomp or circumstance. 

"It was my hope that we could have worked together, bringing the community together — both black and white — to partake in a cathartic exercise, removing this ugly symbol of segregation and unifying our community," Mayor Rufus Davis said. "Unfortunately, the city did not give us advance notice. However, at the end of the day, I am happy to see the fence coming down."

Davis is the city's first African American mayor, and has worked with civil rights attorney Ben Crump since taking office to crack down on "segregationist practices" within the city, including taking down the cemetery fence.

"When I first came to visit the Camilla cemetery, Ms. Gwen Lillian Thomas, a 70-year-old African American activist, said when she was born in this hometown, the fence was already erected," Crump said. "She prayed that she would live to see the day this fence would be taken down. I am so happy we were able to ensure that she could see this symbol of racism destroyed in her lifetime."

Davis promises that the fence is just the beginning. Nearly 70 percent of Camilla is black, and Davis wants that fact reflected in the halls of government. He hopes to start by increasing black employees within Camilla City Hall and the police force.

The mayor and newly-elected city council member Venterra Pollard have also threatened to boycott city council meetings until the discrimination and racial issues they see within the local government are addressed to their satisfaction. 

"Although this symbol is being removed, it has not desegregated our cemetery nor has it removed the discrimination that is still alive today in Camilla," Davis said. "We will continue to take steps forward to integrate our city government in terms of police officers, jobs at City Hall, our work force and more."