[Little Ray]

Lincoln, by the standards of today, WAS a racist ('course these days anybody who believes that a person should be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin is probably a racist by NAALCP standards...). Among other things, he wanted to colonize blacks back to Africa. He fought the Civil War (aka War of Northern Agression) to preserve the Union, not to free the slaves; slavery was largely a propaganda issue to keep England and France out of the war.
That said, we can't really judge him by the standards of today. For the mid-19th century his outlook was reasonable and benign; there were many folks (North AND South) that didn't even see blacks (or Indians, or Chinese, or Irish...) as human...
As shown in the anecdote, Lincoln treated blacks as equals whether or not he believed they were equal and believed that was the law should deal with them this way also.

Not my favorite President, but not the monster of "The Real Lincoln" either.

[squidly]

Correct. Lincoln freed the slaves, (the southern ones, anyway) for political reason, not for moral ones. The northern slaves weren't freed until after his death.

[ought-six]

"...there were many folks (North AND South) that didn't even see blacks (or Indians, or Chinese, or Irish...) as human..."

Or Germans. Especially Catholic Germans.

[usadave]

Among other things, he (Lincoln) wanted to colonize blacks back to Africa.

Lincoln wanted to return the freed slaves back to their homeland, the land from which they were forcibly removed. That was very noble of Lincoln.