{"id":1004,"date":"2020-12-13T12:57:43","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T17:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/gdjfall20\/?p=1004"},"modified":"2020-12-13T12:57:43","modified_gmt":"2020-12-13T17:57:43","slug":"the-unreasonable-impact-of-covid-19-on-south-sudanese-nebraskans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/gdjfall20\/index.php\/2020\/12\/13\/the-unreasonable-impact-of-covid-19-on-south-sudanese-nebraskans\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unreasonable Impact of Covid-19 on South Sudanese Nebraskans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deep in rural Nebraska sits a meatpacking plant, where workers stand shoulder to shoulder for hours at a time. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, plant workers pack into windowless rooms for their lunch breaks, where they cannot wear masks while eating.<\/p>\n

A recent federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union documented how, in the absence of proper oversight, unsafe working conditions throughout the Nebraskan meatpacking industry created a breeding ground for Covid-19 infection. The lawsuit alleges that plants failed to take basic measures to protect their workers, such as adequate masks provision and Covid-19 testing. \u201cIt\u2019s a terrible cycle,\u201d says Albert Maribaga, a South Sudanese community leader, and employment specialist at the Catholic Social Services of Nebraska, \u201cyoung men go to work at these plants, get sick and don\u2019t know it, and come home and infect their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the South Sudanese immigrant community of Nebraska has been hit hard, trapped in poor working conditions due to an uncertain economy. Nebraska is home to one of the largest enclaves of South Sudanese immigrants in the United States, with an estimated 10,000<\/a> residents in Omaha alone. According to researchers University of Nebraska Omaha, the population of South Sudanese residents in Nebraska is small enough that its value is not publicly available, by the United States Census Bureau. This redaction indicates that the Nebraskan South Sudanese population falls between 10,000 and 65,000<\/a> residents. The population of Black or African American residents in Nebraska is 100590<\/a> as of 2019, South Sudanese Nebraskans may account for anywhere between 10%-64.5% of that sub-population.<\/p>\n

Data from The Atlantic\u2019s Covid Tracking Project reveals that Black or African American Nebraskans account for 5%<\/a> of the state\u2019s Covid-19 cases, and 6%<\/a> of their Covid-19 deaths. The accuracy of Nebraska\u2019s Covid-19 race data reporting is suspect, as state officials have only disclosed race data for 50%<\/a> of cases, and 62%<\/a> of deaths. In the graph below, we see that of Nebraska\u2019s minority communities Black or African Americans (represented in turquoise) had the highest Covid-19 case rates, as of December 9th<\/sup>, 2020. It should be noted that Nebraska does not report Covid-19 rates for the LatinX community.<\/p>\n