LOCATION: Alternate Universe, Zeta Zjgerfk, 76^vX--B
TRUMP: Of course, I understand the plight of minorities and women. I had the opportunity to attend Wharton, but instead chose to attend City College, so I could have a better understanding of a diverse group of students, as I strove to develop an integrated knowledge of policy, business, government, & the many differences of the human condition.
Q: What did you do after City?
T: My father ran a construction business in Queens. Largely rental housing. It was the 1970s, & many landlords attempted to find loopholes in housing laws to keep minorities out. But I insisted--I told my father: "Dad, now is the time. We have to provide everyone with a home who needs one. If not now, when?" I'm proud to say that we received an award from the Justice Department for being one of the first developers in New York to open up rental housing to low income minorities, impoverished single women, and families. I tend to keep my office walls empty, but that is one of the few certificates that I hung with pride.
Q: After that?
A: Well, I knew that I could rely on my father's contacts, his line of credit, his connections with city officials. But I determined to truly make it on my own.
First, I spent a year in the Peace Corps, in Rwanda, helping the poorest citizens to build homes from the rawest of raw materials. We found every scrap, every nail, but it was worth it to see the smile on their faces when we had finally built together a place that they could call home.
Then, as you know, it was to Manhattan--where I persuaded the City to donate the unused Penn Central yards for the largest and most successful low income housing project in the United States.
I may not have made much of a profit, but each day I see the profit in the eyes of the families that greet me, as they emerge with pride & gratitude.
Q: Mr. Trump, I must say that you've truly shown, in your many works over decades, that when it comes to women and minorities, they genuinely have nothing to lose.
