His Name Is George Floyd Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Collapse of Reconstruction and our BookBrowse Review of His Name Is George Floyd.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. The history of George Floyd's family can be traced to North Carolina, the state where his ancestors were enslaved. Floyd's great-great-grandfather, Hillery Thomas Stewart Sr., managed to amass a significant amount of wealth after emancipation thanks to the land he owned—land which was then seized from him. Why do you think Stewart was targeted in such a way, and what conditions made it so easy for the land to be taken from him? In your view, what repercussions did this event have on the economic condition of Floyd's family line—and other similar families—across generations?
2. The Floyd family's new life in Texas took them to Cuney Homes, otherwise known as "the Bricks," a government housing project in Houston's Third Ward. What do you believe the authors mean when they say that life in the Bricks was "a modern sand trap of poverty from which Floyd struggled to escape?" How do you see some of the government housing policies mentioned creating or influencing this condition?
3. In his segregated high school, Floyd saw sports—not education—as the key to achieving success. In your view, how did educational policies in Houston, the last large school district in America to desegregate, steer him toward trying to find an alternative path to financial stability?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Penguin Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.