The members of the United Homeowners Association — upper-crust residents of South Los Angeles’ hills and heights — are behaving almost as badly as the gangs which fight each other for supremacy of the streets of the region’s flat lands. The homeowners are fighting over who will lead their organization this year. They’re fighting over an election scheduled for Jan. 21. This strife among elitist warlords has gone beyond uncivilized and is becoming down right ugly, from a more genteel point of view. It’s awful. And also fascinating. These people are waging war in writing.

They attack each other in letters and then counterattack with a wide barrage of e-mails that hit heretofore noncombatants, who immediately launch memos of mass destruction. One side has accused the other of terrorist tactics, such as stalking, shining a flashlight, trespassing, knocking on a door, and “unsettling” a wife, while the accused side says all it was doing was trying to deliver dues checks to the UHA’s president. One side is accused of defacing a batch of election fliers left at the senior center by the other, and the other is accusing its opponents of telling some really awful lies — in writing — about members. I won’t get into specifics because I’m saving the details for a book I think I might write. Fascinating!

But here’s the latest status report: Officials of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Services program said UHA’s president, Theo Irving, last week rejected the organization’s offer to mediate the dispute among the homeowners. The other side — UHA members seeking to oust Irving and the rest of their leadership — has rejected Irving’s rejection. The members sent a fax, certified letter and e-mail to the entire board demanding a formal mediation by the bar association, as well as 1. Copies of all UHA governing documents, as amended to date, including the articles of incorporation (pursuant to California statute 5160), 2. Records of all UHA members’ names, addresses and voting rights (pursuant to California statute 8330(a) (1)), and 3. The accounting books and records and minutes of proceedings of UHA members and the board and committees (pursuant to California statute 8333). And, pursuant to California statute 8330(a)(1), the members have given the board five business days, ending Jan. 18, to comply or else they will “swiftly move forward with notification to the appropriate state and federal agencies that UHA is out of compliance and request every legal remedy available to rectify this condition.” It’s like a soap opera and I can hardly wait for the next episode.

REID IS RIGHT — I’m not mad at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for what he said about President Barack Obama. But I’m mad as hell at these habitually racist, reactionary Republicans who have been slurring, belittling and denigrating Black people ever since they kidnapped us from Africa suddenly rising up and feigning outrage at what they perceive to be an insult to African-Americans. And I’ll be damned if I’ll let them tell me when my race has been offended. We don’t need that ilk to defend us and the mere fact that the right-wingers came running to our “support” over Reid’s racial non-gaffe shows that these people don’t know anything about us. Because Reid was right when he said, in private, mind you: “Obama would make a promising Democratic presidential contender because he’s light skinned and can speak Negro dialect only when he wants to.” There’s nothing offensive in that quote because it’s absolutely true.

Every Black child born soon learns that the lighter his skin, the more acceptable he is to Whites (and, alas, to other Blacks). And all of us educated African-Americans are bilingual. As a rule, we speak standard English around White people and in most formal situations, and we speak Ebonics (the Negro dialect) whenever we want to, mostly among ourselves. Despite Republicans’ show of indignation on our behalf, Reid has nothing to apologize to us for — not even for his use of the word Negro, which, after all, pales in comparison to that other N-word right wingers call us in private — and sometimes in public.

UNDIGNIFIED! — Some people are very upset about the fact that Michael Jackson’s funeral has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award and they’ve launched a campaign to have that nomination rescinded. People have been blogging, posting, tweeting (?) and e-mailing their outrage at having Jackson’s memorial rites being considered by the NAACP to be among the year’s best variety shows. They regard such a nomination as sacrilege and an affront to common decency. Billie J. Green, former president of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP (the chapter that invented the Image Awards), wrote to NAACP Executive Director Ben T. Jealous, calling the nomination of the singer’s funeral “an embarrassment to the past and present members of the NAACP and the African-American community as a whole.” One blogger summed up the general feelings expressed by Jackson’s fans: “Since when is a man’s funeral competition to win an award? Performances or not, I find this tasteless, insensitive and downright degrading to the memory of the King of Pop.”

DAY TRIPS — The Research and Policy Institute of California Inc.’s Black Youth Leadership Project is hosting a one-day open house at the State Capitol geared toward African-American high school students interested in California politics, public policy, civics, government service and/or community service. During the open house, scheduled for Feb. 26, students in grades 8 to 12 will participate with capitol staff in mock committee hearings and in a legislative floor session in which they will pass laws important to them. The deadline to apply for the open house is Jan. 19. Information and application: (916) 256-4286.

The Minority Media and Telecom Council is hosting a two-day “Broadband and Social Justice” summit on Jan. 21 and 22 at Howard University in Washington D.C. I know a lot of Black folks — like former Councilman Bob Farrell — are anxious and interested in how we fit into this stuff, so they might want to visit mmtconline.org for more information about this summit and perhaps attend it.

THIS AND THAT — State Sen. Curren Price, who has just scored two key committee assignments — Senate Committee on Education and Senate Committee on Local Government — has scheduled a series of town hall meetings this month throughout his 26th District so his constituents can learn about state programs and resources and so they can express their concerns about any and everything affecting their communities. The first town hall meeting will be held Saturday at the Vision Theatre in Leimert Park, 3341 W. 43rd Place, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The next one will be held on Jan. 21 at the Southwestern Law School, 3050 Wilshire Blvd., from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Andrew Westall, senior deputy to 10th District Councilman Herb Wesson, has announced his candidacy for the 43rd Assembly District seat vacated by Paul Krekorian, when he was sworn into his new 2nd District City Council seat last week. A native Californian, Westall is also an adjunct professor at Pasadena City College.

Saundra Davis, who left her seat on the Culver City Board of Education last month after an eight-year incumbency, is continuing her public service at Community Centers Inc., one of the largest worksource centers in Los Angeles. She serves the agency as its new CEO.

AND FINALLY — And to think, the U.S. Department of Justice, and probably the independent reviewers, whose report has been withheld from the public, found fault with the Inglewood police killings, yet District Attorney Steve Cooley, who is paid to investigate police shootings, apparently found nothing wrong with any of them. Attorney general my — !