Until it's abolishment in 1865, slavery legally prohibited Black people from earning wages. Following emancipation, laws continued to marginalize Black and African Americans by restricting their freedoms and denying them opportunities. When it was first initiated in 1935, Social Security did not cover most Black Americans as it excluded farmers and domestic workers from benefits. Black people made up 65% of those occupations. Prior to the Civil Rights Act in 1964, Black codes and Jim Crow laws - which legalized racial segregation in the South - detailed what work Black Americans could do, what they could earn and even their ability to leave after hired. Some states even restricted what property Black people could own. Despite the end of these discriminatory policies and laws some 55-plus years ago, they created a systematic inequality that has been difficult to eliminate. They are deeply entrenched into America's labor, housing, education, healthcare and justice system. These discriminatory policies originally set out to ensure white people could build more wealth than Black people. And over time, it contributed to Black Americans, on average, having considerably less wealth than white Americans. Studies show that since the 1960s, following Civil Rights, Black Americans' financial stance compared to white Americans has shown little progress with homeownership, unemployment and overall wealth holdings.