I was really rushed yesterday and didn't have the time to sit and write as much as I would have liked.
I didn't respond to you in part because you were right on. In fact, I haven't heard such a good interpretation of that "cotton picking" work before. It is wonderful to be absorbed into any artworks and to really "get" what the artist intended.
Homer was one of the first artists to paint black people with dignity and without racial stereotypes. One of my favorites is The Gulf Stream. I often pair it with the Fog Warning shown earlier on this thread.
In this work, the ending is more pessimistic than in the Fog Warning. This was inspired by a water spout storm in the Carribbean (vs. New England for the other painting). The black man is cut adrift, unaware of the ship in the background, without any mast or oar or controls. This painting has been connected to Reconstruction. Yes, slaves were freed, but there were no schools, no banks, no infrastruction. And the KKK developed, like the sharks swarming here.
Homer's work is very powerful.