A former Houston mayoral appointee is facing harsh backlash after calling a flood-struck girls’ camp “white-only,” just hours after rising waters took the lives of at least five children and left 11 others missing.
Sade Perkins, a former member of Houston’s Food Insecurity Board, posted a video to her private TikTok account about Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp in Kerr County, as being exclusive to white girls.
Highlights
- A former Houston mayoral appointee called the flood-stricken Camp Mystic a “white-only” Christian girls’ camp amid tragedy, sparking outrage.
- At least five children died and over a dozen remain missing after flash floods struck Kerr County, Texas.
- Sade Perkins claimed media coverage would differ if the victims were Hispanic or Black.
- Houston’s current mayor confirmed Perkins will not be reappointed to the Food Insecurity Board due to her inappropriate comments.
A former Houston mayoral appointee called a flood struck girl’s camp ‘white-only’
Image credits: www.tiktok.com
“I know I’m going to get canceled for this, but Camp Mystic is a white-only girls’ Christian camp,” Perkins started her 2.5-minute video.
“They don’t even have a token Asian. They don’t have a token Black person. It’s an all-white, white-only conservative Christian camp.”
Perkins continued, “If you ain’t white, you ain’t right, you ain’t gettin’ in, you ain’t goin’. Period.”
Her comments came as the number of fatalities from the devastating flash floods in Texas rose to 82.
Image credits: FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth
Among the deceased are at least seven girls aged 8 to 9 who were attending Camp Mystic. Rescue crews are still searching for more than a dozen missing children and staff.
Perkins’ video went viral and drew outrage from the public.
Her post drew outrage from the public in the wake of the floods in Texas
Image credits: sades_world8
In the video, Perkins also said media coverage would have been different if the victims had been Hispanic or Black.
“It's not to say that we don't want the girls to be found, whatever girls that are missing,” Perkins started, “but you best believe, especially in today’s political climate, if this were a group of Hispanic girls, this would not be getting this type of coverage that they're getting. No one would give a f**k.”
“All these white people, the parents of these little girls would be saying things like, ‘They need to be deported, they shouldn’t have been here in the first place’ and yada yada yada,” Perkins said.
Perkins clarified that she intended “no shade” for the girls who were missing or passed away in the flood, and said that she “hope[s] they all get found.”
Image credits: sades_world8
However, she believes that there was too much sympathy for them.
Perkins was appointed to the city’s Food Insecurity Board in 2023 by then Mayor Sylvester Turner. Her term ended in January 2024.
Current Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s office said on Sunday that he has no plans to reappoint her after her “deeply inappropriate comments.”
The Houston Mayor’s Office confirmed they will not reappoint her
Image credits: Crossroads.Princeton.edu
“The comments shared on social media are deeply inappropriate and have no place in a decent society, especially as families grieve the confirmed deaths and the ongoing search for the missing,” Whitmire’s office said in a statement.
“Mayor John Whitmire will not reappoint her and is taking immediate steps to remove her permanently from the board,” the statement added.
Perkins then doubled down in a second video, accusing white Americans of double standards in their concern for missing children.
“I get that white people are not used to people telling them and calling them out on their racism and telling them about their double standards and how you wouldn’t give a damn about other children and how there’s children in ICE detention right now who y’all don’t give two f***s about,” she said.
“There’s no prayers going up for them, but we’re supposed to stop the world and stop everything we’re doing to go and hunt for these little missing white girls.”
Image credits: sades_world8
Camp Mystic has been open for nearly 100 years and was hit hard when the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes early on July 4.
Flash flooding swept through cabins where the youngest campers slept just feet from the water.
Among the victims were eight-year-old Anna Margaret Bellows and nine-year-old Lainey Landry, whose bodies were recovered over the weekend.
A beloved counselor, Chloe Childress, and the camp's director, Dick Eastland, are also confirmed deceased.
More than a dozen people connected to the camp are still missing, and rescue crews are working around the clock.
More than a dozen people connected to the camp are still missing
Image credits: KENS 5
The disaster at Camp Mystic is just one part of a wider emergency across Texas. Torrential rain and flash floods have hit multiple counties, with Kerr County suffering the worst. At least 68 people have died there alone.
Meteorologists and responders warn the threat is “far from over,” as more rain is expected, and rivers could rise again.
Emergency officials urge residents not to let their guard down.
Image credits: KENS 5
“It can wipe out roads, isolate search teams, and trap residents who thought the danger had passed,” he said.
“The unpredictability of these secondary surges is why emergency officials are urging Texans to remain cautious, even after the rain stops. The water is still moving, and the threat is far from over,” he added.
Many blame recent cuts to federal emergency funding for the slow response, with agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which leads the response to natural disasters, stretched thin.