— Community leaders in Raleigh are divided over comments made by Lt. Gov Dan Forest during a speech at a church on Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

The Republican candidate for governor took aim at Planned Parenthood, claiming it originated to ‘destroy the entire black race.’ He has made no secret of his Christian beliefs over the years, including his opposition to abortion.

Speaking to a group of black ministers in Raleigh on Monday, he said he was glad the holiday honoring the civil rights leader combined issues of justice with life.

"There’s no doubt that, when Planned Parenthood was created, it was created to destroy the entire black race," he said. "That was the purpose of Planned Parenthood. That’s just the truth. That’s not just some bloc on the side. That was the purpose when that organization was created.

"How the black community can’t come together and see that and understand that and fight against it, I don’t know," he added, "and how the white community can’t come together and see that and fight against it, I don’t know either."

"I'm thankful for Dan Forest for speaking up and saying it, but as a local church, he didn't have to say it because we say it all the time," said John Amanchukwu, assistant to the bishop and youth pastor with Upper Room Church of Christ.

Forest was articulating a narrative pushed by anti-abortion groups for years. The controversy is tied to Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood.

While Sanger is considered a pioneer in birth control and reproductive rights for women, she also was in favor of the eugenics movement, a concept designed to improve humanity through selective breeding.

At the time, Sanger’s views weren’t unique. Winston Churchill, Herbert Hoover, Theodore Roosevelt, George Bernard Shaw and African-American leader W. E. B. Du Bois shared similar views.

Planned Parenthood has pushed back against racist claims, saying Sanger's views were taken out of context and that she had strong alliances with black leaders, including DuBois. The organization published a report about Sanger's views.

Susanna Birdsong, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood's South Atlantic region, released a statement to WRAL News condemning Forest's remarks.

"It is unfortunate that Mr. Forest chose to push his extreme political agenda on a day that should unite us in celebrating the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who devoted his life to the fight for equality and racial justice," Birdsong said. "The reality is that Dr. King admired the work of Planned Parenthood and, in 1966, was given an award for his work in partnership with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which was accepted by his wife, Coretta Scott King."

A spokesman for Upper Room Church of God in Christ, where Forest spoke, supports his statements. But a local chapter of the NAACP doesn't.

"I’m not sure why the Lt. Governor feels he’s authorized to speak on behalf of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or on what African-American people see," Gerald Givens, president of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP, said in an email. "His opposition to organizations like Planned Parenthood show he has not learned much from Dr. King. However, Dr. King probably would agree we have unfinished business in education, economics, health care and voting rights in North Carolina. We’re glad the Lt. Governor agrees."

When asked to clarify Forest's comments, campaign spokesman Andrew Dunn emailed various articles referring to Sanger's controversial background and quotes about King's opposition to abortion.

Dunn pointed to Sanger’s beliefs on eugenics as well as her ties to what was known as the “Negro Project.” That effort, started in 1939, brought birth control services – but not abortion – to black communities in the South, according to PolitiFact, WRAL's fact-checking partner.

PolitiFact has addressed Sanger's history on several occasions:

In 2011, presidential candidate Herman Cain said Planned Parenthood’s early objective was to "help kill black babies before they came into the world." (Pants on Fire)

In February 2015, a former New Hampshire politician said Sanger was "an active participant in the Ku Klux Klan." (False)

In September 2015, presidential candidate Ben Carson said Sanger "believed that people like me should be eliminated." (False)

Critics often point to one particular quote of Sanger's to support their argument. In a letter, Sanger once said, "We don’t want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs."

But historians say critics are misinterpreting her quote. As PolitiFact reported, Sanger wanted to expand care into the black communities. But because lynchings and Jim Crow laws gave African-Americans reason to be wary of white people, she sought help from black ministers in combating misinformation.

As PolitiFact reported, Sanger hired a black doctor and a social worker to quell those fears. Ultimately, black leaders DuBois and Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of the National Council of Negro Women and the pastor of the influential black Abyssinian Baptist Church, were members of the Negro Project’s advisory council.

As for abortion’s relevance to MLK Day, Dunn said King was a Baptist minister who “did not support abortion.” He said Forest's message was "about unity and fulfilling Dr. King's vision of equality and praising his efforts to push America to fulfill the promises of the Founding Fathers, leaning on Dr. King's Christian faith."

In an acceptance speech delivered by Coretta Scott King on behalf of her husband, King praised Sanger's work.

"For the Negro, therefore, intelligent guides of family planning are a profoundly important ingredient in his quest for security and a decent life," King wrote, according to Planned Parenthood's website. "There are mountainous obstacles still separating Negroes from a normal existence. Yet, one element in stabilizing his life would be an understanding of and easy access to the means to develop a family related in size to his community environment and to the income potential he can command."