Gatsby Was Black in Whiteface
False Assumption: Jay Gatsby's outsider status and ambiguous identity indicate he was a black man passing as white.
Written by FARAgent on February 11, 2026
F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby in 1925. The novel portrays Gatsby as James Gatz, a poor German-American Lutheran from North Dakota who reinvented himself in New York. Nick Carraway, the narrator, expresses homesickness for the Midwest amid Eastern excess.
Modern critics revived racial readings a century later. A 2017 book subtitled 'a Black man in whiteface' linked Gatsby's outsider role to Tom Buchanan's racism and pseudoscience obsessions. A.O. Scott in the New York Times cited this theory alongside academic and fan speculation. Alonzo Vereen taught high schoolers to project any race onto the 'unraced' Gatsby.
The text contradicts these views. Gatsby's backstory emerges explicitly: North Dakota upbringing, shiftless farm parents, St. Olaf's Lutheran college, Minnesota roots. Blacks were 0.1% of 1890s North Dakota; Jews remain rare there today. Fitzgerald satirized anti-Semitism via Wolfsheim, modeled on Jewish mobster Arnold Rothstein, and condescended to 'modish negroes.' The novel centers regionalism and homesickness, not race. Critics ignore demographics and plot to impose identity politics.
People Involved
- A.O. Scott, a former film critic at the New York Times, pushed the idea that Jay Gatsby might have been a black man passing as white. He did this in an article marking the novel's 100th anniversary. He pointed to academic work and fan theories as serious backers of the notion. [1][2]
- Alonzo Vereen, a high school teacher, took up the cause in a 2023 essay for The Atlantic. He taught the book by stressing its 'unraced' elements. This let students imagine any racial background for Gatsby. Vereen acted as a supporter in this way. [1][3]
▶ Supporting Quotes (2)
“In the New York Times, former film critic A.O. Scott concludes his article on the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: Which raises the question of who he has been all along. The theory that Gatsby was “a Black man in whiteface” (to cite the subtitle title of a 2017 book) has been in circulation for some time, linking academic scholarship and internet fan theorizing.”— Was the Great Gatsby black?
“In a brilliant 2023 essay in The Atlantic, Alonzo Vereen describes teaching “Gatsby” to high school students in a way that highlights the indeterminate, “unraced” aspects of the character’s identity. “Gatsby’s American identity is so ambiguous,” Vereen writes, “that the students could layer on top of it any ethnic or racial identity they brought to the novel.”— Was the Great Gatsby black?
Organizations Involved
The New York Times gave space to A.O. Scott's piece, which boosted theories about Gatsby's possible blackness. The article spread ideas from scholars and fans. [1][2] The Atlantic ran Alonzo Vereen's essay, which urged teachers to let students overlay racial identities on Gatsby's vague past. This helped the notion gain ground in education. [1][3]
▶ Supporting Quotes (2)
“In the New York Times, former film critic A.O. Scott concludes his article on the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby:”— Was the Great Gatsby black?
“In a brilliant 2023 essay in The Atlantic, Alonzo Vereen describes teaching “Gatsby” to high school students”— Was the Great Gatsby black?
The Foundation
The theory drew on Gatsby's role as an outsider and Tom Buchanan's racist views. Some saw these as hints of Gatsby passing as white. This linked to the racial pseudoscience of the 1920s. Critics argue this ignores the book's clear details of his German-American Lutheran roots in North Dakota. [1] A 2017 book called Gatsby a 'Black man in whiteface' tied him to fears of racial mixing. It built sub-ideas about his 'unraced' nature. Growing questions surround this, given that blacks made up just 0.1 percent of North Dakota's population in 1890. [1] Others claimed Gatsby's fuzzy American identity allowed for any racial spin. This seemed useful in diverse schools. Mounting evidence challenges it, as the text pins him to Midwestern Lutheran origins. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (3)
“Gatsby’s outsider status is suggestive, as is the fact that his nemesis, Tom Buchanan, is an outspoken racist, obsessed with miscegenation and in thrall to the racial pseudoscience of the day.”— Was the Great Gatsby black?
“The theory that Gatsby was “a Black man in whiteface” (to cite the subtitle title of a 2017 book) has been in circulation for some time”— Was the Great Gatsby black?
““Gatsby’s American identity is so ambiguous,” Vereen writes, “that the students could layer on top of it any ethnic or racial identity they brought to the novel. When they did, the text was freshly lit.””— Was the Great Gatsby black?
How It Spread
The idea of a black Gatsby took hold in academic circles first. It then spread online through fan discussions. By the 2010s, articles in the New York Times picked it up. Essays in The Atlantic later taught it in classrooms, encouraging racial projections onto the story. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (1)
“linking academic scholarship and internet fan theorizing.”— Was the Great Gatsby black?
Harm Caused
Pushing racial interpretations has overshadowed Gatsby's German-American background. Critics argue this erases the novel's focus on Midwestern longing for home. It favors flexible identities over the book's regional ties. This shift happened amid pressures from institutions in the 20th century. [1] A broader cultural change brushed off homesickness as immature. Growing questions surround how this hid the novel's key theme of Midwestern identity, especially through Nick. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (2)
“So, nobody remembers that Gatsby is Lutheran and that Nick’s anomie is due to his homesickness for the Midwest. ... big institutions noticed that their tasks were simpler if they could get Americans to view homesickness as childish, and thus agree that they were fungible.”— Was the Great Gatsby black?
“Americans used to be much more sympathetic regarding homesickness... But over the course of the 20th Century, big institutions noticed that their tasks were simpler if they could get Americans to view homesickness as childish”— Was the Great Gatsby black?
Downfall
Critics point to the novel's plain backstory as a major flaw in the theory. Gatsby starts as James Gatz from a North Dakota farm. He attends St. Olaf, a Lutheran college. His father hails from Minnesota. Demographics show blacks and Jews were scarce there. Mounting evidence from surveys challenges the black passing idea. [1][4] F. Scott Fitzgerald wove in satire of anti-Semitism through the Jewish gangster Wolfsheim, based on Arnold Rothstein. Nick notes 'modish negroes' in passing. Critics argue these elements contradict a black Gatsby reading, raising growing doubts. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (2)
“Of course, Fitzgerald explains Gatsby’s background in the latter part of the book. It turns out that Gatsby was that least storied type of American, the German-American. Gatsby grew up in North Dakota as James Gatz. Blacks made up 0.1% of the population of North Dakota in 1890. In 2024, according to a new survey by the Jewish Electorate Institute, North Dakota has the second fewest Jews of any state, with 910, 0.1% of the population:”— Was the Great Gatsby black?
“if Fitzgerald hadn’t opened his novel by satirizing Tom Buchanan’s bigotry, people would notice his own 1920s anti-Semitism: “Mr. Carraway, this is my friend Mr. Wolfsheim.” A small, flat-nosed Jew raised his large head... Meyer Wolfsheim was inspired by Arnold Rothstein, the Jewish mob boss... And there’s Nick’s condescension toward uppity blacks: As we crossed Blackwell’s Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish negroes”— Was the Great Gatsby black?
Sources
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[1]
Was the Great Gatsby black?reputable_journalism
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[2]
A.O. Scott NYT article on Gatsby anniversaryreputable_journalism
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[3]
Alonzo Vereen essayreputable_journalism
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[4]
Jewish Electorate Institute surveyprimary_source