To fully understand Dragonwings, it is important to

understand the historical context in which the story

takes place.
Sadly, this was a rather dark time in American
history. Racism was not only present in the minds of
individuals, it was actually institutionalized. This
means that the US government officially sanctioned
(supported) and enforced racist laws and policies.
One example of this awful situation is adult
professional life. Can you imagine a world where only
certain races were allowed access to the most important
professional fields? To elaborate, the official American
policy was that anyone of Asian (Chinese?) descent
would only have access to certain professions. For
example, washing the clothes of white Americans.
The ramifications of this policy are still apparent to
this day. For example, if any American needs dry
cleaning services, they may discover that this business
is often owned and operate by a person of Asian
descent. This is because these businesses (and
associated infrastructure and best practices) might be
inherited from previous generations.
In my humble opinion, these types of laws are
absolutely unacceptable in a progressive society. Not
only are these policies racist, they actively hold back
progress. Each individual needs the freedom to work in
their desired field, so that they may make be able to
pursue their dreams careers, and make an excellent
contribution to society.
I realize this is a vast oversimplification, but these
types of historical situations provide the rationale
behind controversial policies such as affirmative action.
These types of policies are necessary to level the
playing field. In other words, white Americans have
had a special advantage over other groups for far too
long. The US government must provide active policies
(like affirmative action) to adequately address this
situation.
Returning specifically to Dragonwings, this book
takes place in the year 1903, over 100 years ago. It also
takes place in San Francisco, which is one of my
personal favorite cities in the world. I recommend
anyone and everyone to visit this city to fully
understand the historical context of Dragonwings.
The San Francisco (SF) that you see today is
significantly different from the SF of 1903. In fact, it is
significantly improved in terms of fairness. These days,
any ethnic group can work professionally in any field
that they desire, so long as they meet or surpass the
official minimum requirements for entrance into the
respective professional field.

(I will now create a simplified version of this essay
to support easier text access for ELLs and their
parents/guardians).