Maybe what you said wasn't directly racist but came off that way because only a racist would be thinking about it at said time. If your friends are talking about Obama and you bring up slavery and police brutality, what do you expect people are gonna think?
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.