Why were some gas-station owners unwilling to serve the New York Rens' bus?

During the 1930s, when the New York Rens traveled through the American South, they faced severe racism and segregation. Because they were an all-Black team, they were frequently denied access to segregated hotels and restaurants, often forcing them to sleep in boarding houses, Black colleges, or local jails.

The refusal of some gas-station owners to serve the team's bus, known as the "Old Blue Goose," was a manifestation of this pervasive racial prejudice. These owners, sometimes armed, turned the team away from their pumps as part of the hostile environment the players had to navigate while barnstorming to keep the team financially afloat during the Great Depression.1