Page 4 - Thinking Critically: Police and the Use of Force

Foreword

“Literacy is the most basic currency of the knowledge econo-
my we’re living in today.” Barack Obama (at the time a senator
from Illinois) spoke these words during a 2005 speech before the
American Library Association. One question raised by this state-
ment is: What does it mean to be a literate person in the twenty-
fi rst century?
E.D. Hirsch Jr., author of Cultural Literacy: What Every Ameri-
can Needs to Know, answers the question this way: “To be cul-
turally literate is to possess the basic information needed to thrive
in the modern world. The breadth of the information is great, ex-
tending over the major domains of human activity from sports to
science.”
But literacy in the twenty-fi rst century goes beyond the ac-
cumulation of knowledge gained through study and experience
and expanded over time. Now more than ever literacy requires
the ability to sift through and evaluate vast amounts of information
and, as the authors of the Common Core State Standards state,
to “demonstrate the cogent reasoning and use of evidence that is
essential to both private deliberation and responsible citizenship
in a democratic republic.”
The Thinking Critically series challenges students to become
discerning readers, to think independently, and to engage and
develop their skills as critical thinkers. Through a narrative-driven,
pro/con format, the series introduces students to the complex is-
sues that dominate public discourse—topics such as gun control
and violence, social networking, and medical marijuana. All chap-
ters revolve around a single, pointed question such as Can Stron-
ger Gun Control Measures Prevent Mass Shootings?, or Does
Social Networking Benefi t Society?, or Should Medical Marijuana
Be Legalized? This inquiry-based approach introduces student

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