Seems to me James is being a bit of a hypocrite here.

Seems to me James is being a bit hypocritical here.  Read the verses and then I will explain why I see it that way.

James 2:1-9(NKJV)

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 

For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 

and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 

have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 

But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 

Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,”  you do well; 

but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 

James makes assumptions that people will automatically favor the poor over the rich.  James goes on to use stereotypes to describe the poor as being rich in faith and being heirs of the Kingdom and the rich as oppressors. 

So in other words James is showing partiality to the poor.

Verse one says not to show partiality; period!!!

Let's take James' words about the poor.  They are Scriptural but there is a qualifier there. 

"Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? "

Notice that not all poor will be heirs, only those who love (accept) Jesus.  Likewise only the rich who love Jesus will be heirs as well.  So there will be some rich people who are heirs while there will be some poor people who will not be heirs. 

Which brings me to my final point.
 

"My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality." 

I think that maybe James was talking specifically about witnessing.  Go out and freely share your faith with the poor and rich alike.  Because there is one thing that we do know.  In the end Jesus will be showing partiality.  Only those who have accepted Him will be saved.