ok so basically
the American concept of race does not really apply to Europe. Discrimination against groups based on ethnicity is most of the time not determined by the color of skin, but by descendance, religion, culture... The best analog is the way Italians and Irish were treated when they arrived in America, it's pretty much the same discrimination that Europeans have among eachother
Of the "big" ethnic groups in Europe, slavs are by far the most discriminated against. Most of their countries were colonized, are still exploited and destabilized to this day by western powers, Russia and I can assure you China will do some shit there too soon. They were sold so much for so long as slaves that the modern day English word slave comes from the word slav.
As with other colonized groups of people, they are often accused as being uncivilized and improper (despite them having a leg up on the many other Europeans in many regards before they were invaded but you know how it is). The men are often seen as violent criminals without reason, whilst the women are fetishized and seen as sex dolls
Most of the slavs have seen this mistreatment and decided to counter it with pride in their history and culture. Except for the Czechs (whose flag it is that is on top of my post)
Some of them just don't wanna admit they're slavs. They larp as Germans because they brew and drink beer and (like every other slavic group on Earth) had a lot of cultural exchange and shared history with Germans. When they're put in the same group as other slavs, they get offended. You say that they're in Eastern Europe and not in Central Europe (neither are particularly clearly defined terms) and they lose their shit
The irony is that they deported the ethnic German minority from the Sudetenland after WWII. And now they celebrate Oktoberfest and wear Lederhosen and reaaaally wanna be Krauts. It's very bizzare
The best comparison would be if some Appalachians would larp as west coast urban pop. There's nothing wrong with being Appalachian and the fault is with people making ugly assumptions about a population based on stereotypes. Instead of loving the mountains and celebrating the cryptids, being all like "I am not like the other Tennesseans", having a "I am with her" tattoo and thinking everyone else is a dummy based on remarks made by people who won't respect you anyways
