Roland Harper helps get minority set-asides for his white friends.

[Kananga]

All sports fans could consider the following article.  Would Roland Harper make a good JTF'er?





Former Bears fullback Roland Harper pleaded guilty Tuesday to fraud for allowing his trucking company to be used by a white-owned firm to obtain contracts set aside for minority-owned businesses.

Harper, 55, of Algonquin, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of mail fraud and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. In return, prosecutors agreed to recommend he serve about 16 months in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 14.

Harper, who is African-American and was president of Rohar Construction, admitted he obtained contracts from Chicago Public Schools on behalf of Monahan Landscape Co., which got more than $1.5 million in payment.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-bears-harper-pleadsjun18,0,5079989.story

[Rubystars]

The contracts shouldn't have been set aside based on race in the first place, because that's not right. However, once he makes some sort of promise to do that, he should honor it.

[Kananga]

We don't know what his true intentions were behind gaming the system.   I mean, what if his intentions were as to help rectify a process which he may have believed to have unfairly kept small and underfinanced white-owned startups at a disadvantage of winning those contracts?