Racism was the standard for those times among the dominant "race", with notable exceptions. I don't think it is honest reporting to cite only the Lincoln quotes from the Douglas debates to sum up the man's beliefs. Those beliefs changed over time and Lincoln spent his political capital freely to ram the 13th amendment through a reluctant congress, an act that may have cost him his life. Lincoln's relationship with Fredrick Douglass was at least as instructional as his earlier debates with the other Douglas. Lincoln wasn't the only great American to change his beliefs over time, I can think of one personal hero in particular.