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[August 20, 2009]

Local inventor files lawsuit against 'racist' AOL, Google

Aug 20, 2009 (Laurel Leader-Call - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A Jones County inventor has filed a lawsuit against two Internet server companies.

John Ishmel Henry of Soso, in May, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

In his suit, Henry claims that "he was called and depicted as a n--r on two of the Internet service provider search engines, AOL and Google." Henry, the original inventor of the vibrating toilet seat, was featured on the Jay Leno Show in November, 2008.

"Needless to say that my invention garnered a lot of attention," he said. "I was completely humiliated and horrified to discover that these two great bastions of business prowess would allow (these) web sites ... to thrive on their search engines." "The hypocrisy of this libelous and slanderous tragedy has caused me enormous mental harm, emotional suffering and sleepless nights," he claims in his suit. "I am a true American and feel that I have the right to respond to such indignation in the court of law. ... I believe in the freedom of speech, but I believe we all should be treated fair as citizens of America." Henry said he is concerned as to how these search engines affects him as well as others.

"I believe that exposing these websites will enlighten the American people of the horrors of racism," he said. "These search engines should be responsible with what goes on those sites. ...They should show some responsibility to what's happening." Henry said, he has suffered harm from the actions of the web sites and search engines.

"This is Internet racism and it's something that affects the moral character of the American people," he said. "It's time that we work on racism in our country.

"America should be proud and acceptable of this 'one teachable moment,'" he added. "I believe we must do this so that America, the great country that it is, can live up to its true heritage and be a beacon to those less fortunate." In July, Google and AOL filed motions in federal court requesting that the judge dismiss Henry's suit.

Henry is also working on a book titled "Diversity and Racism: The Challenge of Mankind." "In this book I talk about the roots of racism and how it affects our country to this day," he said. "This book does not blame any particular group. It just addresses the issue and ways to eliminate it.

"All Americans have been affected by racism and its horrible practices," he added. "Many need counseling to some degree." For more information on the websites in question, contact you can contact Henry at (601) 729-4470 or e-mail him at astrostarenterprises@yahoo.com To see more of the Laurel Leader-Call or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.leadercall.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Laurel Leader-Call, Miss.

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