Controversial Remarks by Former Houston Official Emerge Amid Texas Flood Devastation

Just hours after catastrophic flooding in Texas resulted in at least five fatalities among young girls and 11 others still unaccounted for, a former public official from Houston made inflammatory comments about a local girls’ camp.}

Sade Perkins, who was appointed to Houston’s Food Insecurity Board in 2023, posted a video criticizing Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ camp, for allegedly being exclusively white. In the video, she stated, “Camp Mystic is a white-only girls’ Christian camp. They lack representation of any Asian or Black individuals. It’s an all-white, conservative Christian enclave,” drawing widespread outrage.

Perkins further asserted, “If you aren’t white, you don’t get in,” appearing to endorse racial exclusion. Her comments coincided with the rising death toll from Texas flooding, now reported at 80 victims. She added that no one would notice or care if the victims were minorities, implying that media coverage favors white victims over minorities in such tragedies.

Following criticism, Perkins responded in a subsequent video, defending her remarks and criticizing perceptions of racial bias, while also expressing a hope that missing campers would be found. Her comments drew sharp rebuke from officials, with Houston Mayor John Whitmire stating, “Her comments have no place in a decent society.”

It was also revealed that Perkins’s term on Houston’s Food Insecurity Board ended in January, and Mayor Whitmire indicated she would not be reappointed. Her statements have sparked a broader conversation about race, privilege, and response to disaster amid the ongoing tragic events.