How are we to interpret the legend of John Henry?

For the story and one interpretation, go here I suppose that on one level you could say it is just a story and leave it at that. But there is so much symbolism in the story that it begs for interpretation. Is it to be interpreted in terms of race, as the article suggests? I always thought of it as being in terms of man versus machine. From this point of view, should it be viewed as a triumph of man? John Henry does win. On the other hand, the machine gets to work another day and John Henry does not.