Was Fitzgerald a Hypocrite?

If you were writing an autobiography, would you choose to exclude somebody you absolutely hated? What if they had made a monumental contribution to society, to the point where it touched your life in a positive way? Ultimately, what I'm asking is, are you selfish enough to feel that you have the right to determine someone else's worth? 

Though The Great Gatsby is nationally recognized for its "scrupulous representation of cultural details very specific to the time and locale in which [Fitzgerald] places his characters," the book's author was apparently too racist to cover a key part of the 20s: Harlem's African Americans ("African American Criticism" 396). Today, it's difficult to understand what drove him to do this; most likely, anybody you ask will point out that, at the time, racism was practically encouraged. But, why? The Jazz Age blossomed from the destruction of World War One, bringing many people immense wealth and initiating widespread change. Though many people changed practically everything about their lives, from their modes of transportation to the social circles in which they found themselves, racism somehow remained rooted in the mix. Fitzgerald himself would exploit people of color: at one point, he "made his African American chauffeur, who had a speech impediment, repeat over and over again a sentence filled with words he was unable to pronounce correctly," (408). It is strange to think of Gatsby's author, as someone who was hyperaware of the materialism and superficiality that surrounded him, being amused by this. It's especially unsettling that his failure to include African American contributions in the novel was fueled at best by an extreme form of petty dislike. Ironically, the author who wrote about the dangers of being obsessed with the past retained beliefs that had, at one point, been a part of an argument that almost tore apart the country.

Thankfully, more and more of society continues to refute white supremacist ideology; indeed, today, many are absolutely indignant when a movie contains an all-white cast. However, the cost of arriving at this point has been great. Unnecessary suffering was prolonged for selfish reasons. Had Fitzgerald mentioned Harlem in his book, perhaps his readers would have changed their views: perhaps people would have responded to logic earlier if it flowed from the pen of a respected author.

Harlem, 1920s