From Lincoln's First Inaugural Address. So how does a simple statement of fact denote racism in Lincoln?
After reviewing the pros and cons of Africa as a destination, Lincoln started pushing Central America as his destination of choice. After all, he said, Liberia was far from African Americans’ birthplace in the United States, and even if they weren’t all that fond of white people, he could understand wanting to be close to their forcibly adopted “motherland.”
“It does not strike me that you have the greatest reason to love [white people],” he said, exempting himself. “But still you are attached to them at all events.”
As crazy as it sounds now, Central America fit the bill for Lincoln, because, as he explained, “[i]t is nearer to us than Liberia—not much more than one-fourth as far as Liberia, and within seven days’ run by steamers. Unlike Liberia it is on a great line of travel—it is a highway. The country is a very excellent one for any people, and with great natural resources and advantages, and especially because of the similarity of climate with your native land—thus being suited to your physical condition.”
https://www.theroot.com/did-lincoln-want-to-ship-black-people-back-to-africa-1790858389