When you’re dating outside your race, breakups can be tricky, but not for the reasons you might think. Obviously you and the person you’re dating don’t have a problem with interracial dating, so that shouldn’t factor into the breakup. Odds are excellent that there won’t be any ugliness or name calling during the breakup if things don’t happen to work out.

What you’ll find though, is that the parents on both side (yours and your ex’s) will have lots more to say about this breakup than they ever have about any others you’ve experienced. It’s important to handle your parents and other opinionated people in your inner circle carefully, lest you find yourself fighting this battle every time you date someone of a different ethnic background.

This (dating within the confines of your own race and culture) seems to really matter to members of the older generation, much more so than to Millennials and Gen X’ers, who are much more open to the idea of crossing those boundaries. Because of that, you’re likely to hear a chorus of “I told you so!” from the older members of your inner circle if your relationship should turn sour. If and when that happens (and it is overwhelmingly likely that it will), the best thing you can do is keep your cool. Try to make the breakup as cordial as possible, and be supportive of one another, if you’re able to do that, because odds are good that your ex is facing the same kinds of pressure from the naysayers in his or her life.

It’s important to stress to the people who are playing the “I told you it would never work out” card that they understand that people break up for lots of different reasons, and that your differing ethnic backgrounds did not play a role in the breakup. Sure, there are some cases when this might be the case, or at least a contributing factor, but on closer investigation, it’s usually not the ethnic differences that make or break a relationship, but your friends’ and family’s reaction to them.

That said, once you’ve expanded your horizons and begun dating outside your race, you’re likely to continue to do that. If you don’t set the proper tone with your friends and family who are somewhat skeptical, it can come back to haunt you in every future relationship.