Should the city of Boston give Black people reparations for slavery?

That’s the question the city council will probe in an upcoming hearing, as called for on Wednesday by City Councilors Julia Mejia and Kenzie Bok.

The idea of reparations — stretching back to the famous proposal of 40 acres and a mule for newly freed slaves right after the Civil War — is the idea that the government owes Black people something for enslaving their ancestors.

The order submitted by Mejia and Bok calls for “a hearing on reparations and their impact on the civil rights of Black Bostonians, in order to both form a common, shared history regarding Boston’s involvement in the enslavement of Black people as well as to explore the possibility of Boston issuing reparations.”