This reminds of the ongoing “minority business” scam.
Business owners would (and still do) pay a minority person to be their “front” to get the government or other contracts.
At the end of the day, the actual benefits go to a very few clever minorities who are skilled at gaming the system.
One variation of the minority contract scam is to have the minority firm be the general contractor and then have them subcontract out to white firms that can actually do the work.