Every February, I have written my usual rant on Black History Month, railing that the current social status of entitlement of the African-American population that I saw every day in Louisiana is a slap in the face to those who gave their lives to the cause of equality.

I figured that, as I moved to a more race-accepting culture in the West, I would run out of fodder for my annual rant.

Colorado, you disappointed me. At least it wasn’t in the conservative valley that I reside in, but in the über-liberal nesting ground that makes up the Front Range region: Denver.

Last Christmas, on the local Denver news, they had a five-part special on being black in Denver. Normally, I would expect a report on how discrimination is destroying the African-American communities in the region, or how blacks are segregated into ghettos on the lower Denver side. Not even close.

This five-part series showed how hard it is to be black in a predominantly white community. The people they interviewed were all in suits and business dress, all with Ph.D.s, and were very articulate. I think the meat of their complaints was that they were offended that no one outside of Denver thinks that there are black people in the West. The group also was upset that there was nowhere to go to celebrate Kwanzaa. Really???

One even has a very successful insurance company that only caters to African-Americans, but she was upset that there weren’t enough blacks in the area to expand her business. (Hint to that woman: There are Hispanics, Europeans, Asians, and illegals that need insurance, too. Just saying.)

What was wrong with that? Was the West looking at discrimination against races as “I don’t have enough customers that are black,” “I don’t have enough black friends,” or even “People don’t know I exist”? Does that mean that racial equality exists here?

Probably not, but there is a good blend of different nationalities in Denver to make it a more multicultural place. I doubt the Baton Rouge paper could find two or three African-Americans that are upset that there aren’t enough blacks in Baton Rouge. If you could find some folks like that, they are probably either blind or blonde.

I just couldn’t believe that, after living in the Deep South, I would move to an area of the country that looks at race as nothing more than skin pigment. I think that Black History Month here is more about celebrating history than a reason to force one particular culture onto the rest of society — as if one month is going to bring society together, and one culture is the culture we should all adapt to.

America is the melting pot of societies, and although Caucasian is the predominate race, there is no such country as Caucasia. Every nation in Europe has a particular culture, and adding those of other continents and countries makes this nation a better place. Touting one culture over another, even for the shortest month of the year, only amplifies the racial rift that the race pimps seem to perpetuate.

If that seems racist, does Asian-American Month, German-American Month, or even an Arab-American Month get one-tenth as much press and prestige as African-American Month? Is it because they were not persecuted as much as the black race? Middle Eastern people have the 9/11 stigma. Chinese people built the railroads across the West in conditions that made a plantation look like a tropical paradise.

I’m not diminishing the accomplishments of African-Americans but rather looking at the human race as a whole for what we have done. Segregating one race for a month seems counterintuitive to what so many — men and women that were black, white, yellow, rich, and poor — have fought for over the last 50 years.