CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Three years ago, a UNC basketball player says he was the victim of a hate crime that left him with significant injuries. He’s since recovered, but what he suffered will always stick with him and the Asian community.
What You Need To Know
Former UNC basketball player Kane Ma was the victim of a hate crime in 2019
Ma suffered skull fractures, deep cuts on his face and a broken nose
He encountered the three men at a graduation ceremony and was confronted again
Former Tar Heels basketball player Kane Ma still practices regularly at the Roy Williams Court. He earned unlimited access to the Smith Center after an incredible journey.
When he first started out, he says it took time to prove himself as a player. He played in 12 games for the 2017-18 Tar Heels.
“By senior year they eventually added me,” Ma said.
Ma’s time in Chapel Hill wasn’t always full of great memories and accomplishments.
When he was in Chapel Hill for a Duke-UNC game in March 2019, he was approached by three men. He had been celebrating on Franklin Street and was alone at the time.
“Next thing I remember, I’m waking up off the pavement, I feel my head, and it’s just like fully full of blood,” Ma said.
He says he was the victim of a horrible hate crime.
“The guy says ‘what, you’re not gonna do some kung fu on us?’”
He suffered skull fractures, deep cuts on his face and a broken nose. He reported the attack to police but ultimately decided to drop his complaint.
“It’s your word versus theirs — three of them, one of you — so it got really frustrating,” Ma said.
Ma says a year after the hate crime, he saw the same three men at his sister’s UNC Chapel Hill graduation. He says they made eye contact and even confronted him again. This time, Ma was surrounded by family and friends, and there was no physical altercation, but he says the men yelled things at him like “white power.”
He says he’ll keep talking about what happened.
“We just had the horrific things that happen in Texas. There’s a lot of uproar about that, and you just want to keep the conversation going,” he said.
Ma also says being the victim of a hate crime changed his perspective on life.
"You can’t make someone feel some type of way. You can’t change how someone feels about you, but what you do is react a certain way, the way you react is ultimately what’s important,” he said.
Now, Ma continues to play basketball nearly every day and even plays in semi-pro leagues and is proud to be an Asian American.
“I’m really honored to be a part of this culture. At the end of the day we need to move past just ‘hey, let’s keep talking about it as a collective in the world.’ We need to move past the small differences of color,” he said.
Ma still lives in the Triangle and is enjoying a successful career as a startup tech manager and keeps in contact with UNC coach Hubert Davis.