Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston is calling on his fellow Teesside politicians to join him in protecting the legacy of Captain Cook after calls by Black Lives Matter campaigners to remove public statues of the world-famous explorer and navigator.
Mayor Preston says it would be a “travesty” if statues of Marton-born Captain James Cook were removed from display in places such as Great Ayton and Whitby.
Some Black Lives Matters campaigners have targeted Cook memorials as part of a wider campaigner to remove statues of historic figures with controversial pasts on the back of the removal of statues of slave traders Edward Colston and Robert Milligan in Bristol and London.
A website has listed Cook memorials among “racist” statues campaigners believe should be taken down.
During three epic journeys between 1768 and 1779, Cook discovered more of the Earth’s surface than anyone in history.
Preston said: “Cook was probably the greatest ever and certainly the most successful Teessider in history and the vast majority of us are rightly proud of his achievements on his great voyages of discovery.
Cook was a genuine working class hero who rose from being a labourer’s son to the most celebrated man in Europe.
“Of course, there were very different times and I’m sure that a modern day Captain Cook would not act in the way that he did back then when values, standards and beliefs were very different to modern thinking.
“But Teesside and Middlesbrough in particular rightly celebrates Cook’s name and historic achievements in discovering and charting lands across great areas of the world.
“So I’m calling on all of my fellow Teesside politicians to state publicly that they would not support the whitewashing of Cook’s name from the history books – and that they would be absolutely against the removal of any of the statues that celebrate his incredible achievements.”
Preston believes that the introduction of new information alongside Cook statues should be considered, explaining a modern day, balanced description of Cook’s life and legacy.
“I think it would be fair to introduce an updated and accurate description of Cook’s achievements but also the fact that good and bad resulted in his journeys and discoveries,” he said.
When Cook embarked on his first journey roughly a third of the world’s map remained blank or filled with imaginary continents. He sailed into the void in a small wooden ship and returned with charts so accurate that some of them stayed in use until the 1990s.
By the time he was killed by natives in Hawaii, he had sailed more than 200,000 miles – roughly the equivalent to circling the equator eight times or travelling to the moon.