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The candidates for Bexar County Judge sparred over the term “Dr. No” on TPR’s “The Source” on Monday.
Republican Trish DeBerry referred to Democrat Peter Sakai using the term which members of the Asian community called racist.
Sakai said DeBerry referred to him as “Dr. No” in two separate public debates. “Dr. No” is the name of a 1962 James Bond movie whose main protagonist is a villain of Asian descent.
Sakai said he, family members, and others were offended by the use of the term. Sakai said it reminded him of the teasing he endured as a minority among minorities growing up in South Texas.
“This brought back those memories and it did for me,” he said of DeBerry’s use of the term.
Sakai said he asked DeBerry to refer to him as “Peter” or “Judge.”
DeBerry said the term is not racist, but rather a common one used in politics.
“Typically, it’s used to describe someone who says no to everything,” she said. She encouraged voters to Google the term for themselves.
DeBerry said the movie was released before she was born, and she is not a fan of James Bond movies.
DeBerry said in this case it was used to describe Sakai’s saying no, for example, to relocating the jail to make room for economic growth on the West Side, one of the poorest neighborhoods locally and nationally.
Sakai said relocating the jail would be a $1 billion “county budget buster.” The total county budget this fiscal year was valued at $2.8 billion.