Thanks to Wanda Sykes, we know.

At Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner (now simply called the WHCD), comedienne Sykes pointed out that the “first black president,” was in fact  bi-racial.

So when Obama’s wonderful, he’s  TFBP (the first black president).  But when he screws up—then he’s the white guy.

Obama is positioned by birth to be at both ends of the joke.  He can be the pin-pricker and the pin-pricked.  It’s the new ethnic humor.   As mixed marriages and their offspring grow in number,  expect to see more of this  new ethnic joke form come up.

I said the same thing recently about Giants’ Tim Lincecum, last year’s Cy Young winner for best pitcher in the NL. When he’s pitching well, we Filipinos love to point out he’s  at least a quarter Filipino (which explains his greatness, of course).  But when he’s getting shelled and pitching poorly,  that must be the white part  giving up all those hits.

I point this out because ethnic humor may be one way to break the ice and begin having those awkward race conversations Attorney General Eric Holder said we should be having.

If we start talking wonkily about race by exploring Brown and Plessy, or their latter day counterparts that could impact us all,  no one will be having a conversation soon.

But if we talk about our president like Sykes did at the WHCD, we may be able to sneak up on the tough conversations we are too  cowardly to have.