Let me reiterate that this has nothing to do with the actress the late, great Bea Arthur. It has to do with the character of Maude Findlay. Do you think Maude was a hypocrite? She was the anti-Archie Bunker, the female Norman Lear, yet the character had a black maid!?! Thoughts?

I don't think having a black maid made her hypocritical - she tried to be nice to Florida - even if it was in that forced "I'm super-liberal so let me show you how cool I am for a white woman". It did have a bit of a patronizing quality, at least to me.

But what Maude could be was a real royal super-pushy pain in the a**

So, short answer: hypocrite no pain in the butt YES

As I recall Maude was a vehement supporter of the women's lib movement. As such I think it was very hypocritical of her to hire Florida Evans (and later Mrs. Naugatuck) to do a menial job for low wages.