America’s politicians operate in a broken political system that rewards partisanship and punishes collaboration. Republicans running for office in closed Republican primaries can’t be “shamed” into changing their positions on gun safety legislation. In fact, supporting this type of legislation guarantees they will be defeated in a primary challenge.

The black community is being told, in many different ways, that its interests are synonymous with protecting the two-party system in general, and the Democratic Party in particular. Is that consistent with empowering African-Americans in today’s world? With 42 percent of Americans now identifying as independent, many people, myself included, feel that blind loyalty to the Democratic Party is not an option.

Democratic and Republican leaders have routinely let down black Americans. It’s time to march toward independence...Political independence is the best choice for the black community to break from party control and gain greater political mobility.

H.R. 1 is incomplete because it fails to recognize important changes within the broader electorate and ignores structural changes such as open primaries that would empower millions of African-Americans, and many millions more Americans, to fully participate.