[Marauder]

Lincoln's attitude re the slaves and blacks in general was IMHO somewhat advanced for his time, but he was no apologist and - again my opinion - would not have supported reparations.
His statement that said he would do whatever it took to preserve the Union in terms of freeing slaves, all or some, says more about his commitment to preserve the Union than it does about his racial opinions. He didn't want the United States to split up at all, but especially on his watch.
The Emancipation Proclamation was, after all, more for psychological warfare than anything else. It was meant to demoralize the Confederacy and help win the war.

[The Other Harry]

Lincoln's attitude re the slaves and blacks in general was IMHO somewhat advanced for his time...

The problem with this comment is that we don't actually have any idea what Lincoln's attitude was. His public statements conflict wildly.

Lincoln was a political pragmatist of the first order. He said whatever he needed to say to whomever he was talking to at the time, and he did whatever he needed to do to hold the country together.