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Qin Chen

Xie Xiaozhen, a 76-year-old Chinese grandmother who fought off a violent attack in San Francisco, plans to give all of the charitable donations she received to organisations that fight racism directed at the Asian-American community. 
As of Wednesday evening, around 31,200 people had donated US$933,630 to Xie’s medical expenses in five days via GoFundMe, far beyond the US$50,000 target they set. 
In a statement released on the family’s campaign page, John Chen, Xie’s grandson, wrote: 
“[Xie] said we must not submit to racism and we must fight to the death if necessary. She also stated multiple times to donate all the funds generated in this GoFundMe back to the Asian-American community to combat racism.”

Chen added that Xie made the decision because the problem of racism is “bigger than her”. 
The attack on Xie, who immigrated from China to the US in 1995, happened last week on Wednesday — the day after a man shot and killed eight people in Atlanta-area spas. Six of the victims were Asian women. 
Many people, including US Senator Tammy Duckworth, said it was a racially motivated crime. The gunman, who is white, told investigators he had a sex addiction which drove him to violence. Law enforcement officials have not tied the crime to race. 
The spa killings and the attack on Xie come amid a spike in attacks on Asians in much of the West since the coronavirus pandemic began a year ago. 
In the US, hate crimes against Asians rose by 149 per cent from 2019 to 2020, according to The Centre for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. Overall, hate crimes in America dropped by 7 per cent in 2020, the study found. 
On March 17, a video of Xie went viral. She was crying and yelling at a man, since identified as 39-year-old white man Steven Jenkins, who reportedly punched her in the face in an unprovoked attack and was bleeding from his face after she reacted by beating him with a wooden plank.


The incident quickly made global headlines and people across the world hailed Xie as a hero defending herself against a racist bully.
On the same day, Jenkins also assaulted Ngoc Pham an 83-year-old Vietnamese American man. Ngoc fell during the attack and broke his nose and may have fractured bones in his neck. Ngoc’s family has helped him raised more than US$284,000 on GoFundMe at the time of writing.
The San Francisco police department charged Jenkins with two counts of assault and elder abuse. They are investigating whether he was motivated by racial bias.
On the GoFundMe page, Chen wrote: “All the hatred that is happening towards the AAPI (Asian-American and Pacific Islanders) community has deeply angered and saddened our family.”
“That is why our family plans to donate ALL funds generated in this GoFundMe to help the AAPI community recover, and combat racism.”
The family also plans on donating US$10,000 of their own money to the cause, according to a report in Jiangmen News, a local newspaper in China.  

To celebrate Xie’s bravado, Chen Chunming, a cartoon artist from the same Chinese region as Xie, created a cartoon of Xie fearlessly holding a wood plank next to Chinese words “beat you down”. 
Xie is originally from Taishan, a coastal region in the southern province of Guangdong.


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Chinese grandmother who fought off white attacker plans to give nearly US$1 million in donations to fight racism against Asian-Americans

John Chen said his grandmother made the decision to donate the money is because the problem of racism is ‘bigger than her’. Photo: SCMP/handout

Xie’s family said she was emotional and cried often after the incident, but is slowly recovering from her injuries. Photo: GoFundMe

A local Chinese artist has created a cartoon paying tribute to Xie’s audacious self-defence. Photo: Weibo/Yangcheng Evening News

Chinese grandmother, 76, fights off attacker in San Francisco with wooden stick

A screenshot from a video shows Xiao Zhen Zie, 76, holding an ice pack for her bruised eye, and a stick, which she used to fight off an attacker who punched her in San Francisco on Wednesday. Photo: Dennis O‘Donnell via Twitter

San Francisco Police patrol in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Thursday. Photo: EPA-EFE

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People participate in a march and rally against anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander racism and violence in downtown Atlanta, Georgia on March 20. Photo: EPA-EFE

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ORLANDO, FL - FEBRUARY 28: on February 28, 2021 at AdventHealth Arena in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2021 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)

‘Kick ass’ Chinese granny wins fame in China after turning tables on racist attacker in US

Xie Xiaozhen, 76, originally from Guangdong, was waiting to cross the road on Wednesday when a white man in his 30s yelled ‘Chinese’ and punched her in the face. Photo: GoFundMe

San Francisco Police patrol in the city’s Chinatown on Thursday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Chinese grandmother Xie Xiaozhen was about to cross the street when her attacker struck. Photo: GoFundMe

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The family had hoped to raise US$50,000 to pay for Xie Xiaozhen’s medical expenses after the attack
Xie said she wanted to donate the money because the problem of racism is ‘bigger than her’


The story of a brave 76-year-old Chinese grandmother who turned the tables on a racist attacker in the US last week has gone viral and prompted an outpouring of support.


Asian-Americans

Chinese grandmother who fought off white attacker plans to give nearly US$1 million in donations to fight racism against Asian-Americans

The family had hoped to raise US$50,000 to pay for Xie Xiaozhen’s medical expenses after the attack Xie said she wanted to donate the money because the problem of racism is ‘bigger than her’

The family had hoped to raise US$50,000 to pay for Xie Xiaozhen’s medical expenses after the attack

Xie said she wanted to donate the money because the problem of racism is ‘bigger than her’