Rolling the R's, set in the 1970s in Hawaii, follows several adolescent Filipino characters as they grapple with the difficulties of fitting in as immigrants, discovering their sexualities, and deal with the social structure of in their community.
The story is told in non-linear progression, presenting the young, queer characters across settings to show how they all stray from typical depictions of pre-teen protagonists.
[3] R. Zamora Linmark presents the story of Rolling the R’s in a series of vignettes, offering readers glimpses into the lives of young people exploring their sexuality, education, assimilation into mainstream American society, and other aspects of their identity.
The recent immigrants (Florante, Mai Lin, Vicente) become more comfortable with their language usage, consequentially also becoming more confident in their ethnic identities and racial histories.
Examples of racial and ethnic prejudice between groups, and the stress caused by their teachers' demands that they speak standard English in the classroom rather than pidgin, become more pervasive throughout the novel.
His sexuality is often the target of ridicule, exhibited by the opening vignette "Blame It On Chachi" in which the homophobic epithet "faggot" is hurled at Edgar from an unspecified narrator.
His story most evidently reflects the rupture of childhood innocence as he explicitly describes his sexy escapades with Mr. Campos, the school janitor.
Ms. Takara is a Japanese-American who teaches corrective pronunciation to the recent immigrants in order to help the students learn how to speak standard English.
The immigrant students are removed from class regularly and taken to a small room on the opposite side of the school for lessons in how to speak standard English.
[13] Through 1980, this pattern of hierarchy remained, resulting in a preponderance of Filipino-Americans in Hawaii who had lower paying jobs, less education, and a lack of political power despite constituting a significant portion of the Hawaiian population.
The education system has played a role in determining the economic and social status of Filipino-Americans since they first arrived in Hawaii in the beginning of the 20th century.
[14] Until the mid 1970s, students who did not speak English had no right or access to bilingual or native language instruction at school, propelling them into the lower strata of the education system.
In Rolling the R's, Mrs. Takemoto's immense surprise upon discovering Florante's English language talent reflects the low expectations n Filipino-American students.
From Edgar's label as "faggot" to Katrina's descriptions of sex with her boyfriend, R. Zamora Linmark urges readers to recognize the depths of children's experiences with these subjects, whether they want to accept it or not.
Homophobia and transphobia among Asian and Asian-American populations is actually a vestige of late 19th and early 20th century European colonialism in Asia, which brought the conservative Western opinions of sexuality and gender to the continent.
[21] The term tomboy serves a similar purpose for women, labeling those with non-traditional gender or sexual practices as lesbians or too masculine in manner or dress.
His father abuses him physically when he acts outside of his assigned male role and he receives verbal reinforcement of stereotypes from the gossip on the island which follows Edgar and other openly LGBT characters.
[23] In a 2009 study of phenotypical traits and discrimination, researchers found that darker skin was associated with lower income and poorer physical health for both females and males.
[24] More ethnic features also seemed to heighten income disparity only for female participants, meaning that immigrants of any generation must navigate racial prejudice while also adjusting to life in the US.
Following the passage of the act, the proportion of immigrants in the broader Filipino-American skyrocketed, making Filipinos far more prone to stereotyping as a result of nativism and backlash.