This week, a gunman murdered eight people in Atlanta—six of whom were women of Asian descent. This tragic event demonstrated clearly that the demonizing, scapegoating, othering, and exoticizing of AAPI people leads inexorably to harassment, violence—and murder. Words matter. EPI calls for unanimity and solidarity among policymakers and leaders to denounce the surge in anti-Asian racism and end the use of abusive language that fosters an atmosphere of prejudice and violence.