Trent Lott’s racist remarks earlier this month may have served to strengthen a growing civil rights movement to defend affirmative action. The Supreme Court agreed on Dec. 2 to hear Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, which have been described as the most significant civil rights cases since Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. The cases’ outcome will decide whether or not the nation’s colleges and universities can continue to use affirmative action in their admissions policies.