Machines pick cotton now, people are way too slow and the farms are much larger in general. But drivers are needed and the cabs are air conditioned now.
But it’s not really about “picking cotton”.
It’s about yanking people out of the inner city (where “everything is free”) and telling them they now have to be agricultural workers.
The perception is definitely going to be “I ain’t picking cotton for no white man”. It doesn’t matter if cotton is involved or not. And it doesn’t matter if we now have AC.