Big Brother' Star Aaryn Gries I'm Working Out My Racist Demon

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"Big Brother" contestant Aaryn Gries is finally coming clean, admitting she talks like a racist ... but she insists it doesn't make her one.

Gries tells TMZ she's been making racial jokes for years  ... but had no idea they were offensive because "no one had expressed that I was taken that way."

Gries says she wishes someone had warned her before going into the BB house ...  that making these "jokes" on national TV would paint her as a big ol' racist.

"I am not a racist," she says, adding, "Sometimes you can say mindless things that will haunt you."

Aaryn -- racist?

• Yes
• No

Aaryn also apologized for throwing Texas under the bus when Julie Chen asked if she was a racist during her exit interview from the house -- explaining, "Blaming Texas was the biggest mistake I made ... I was in defense mode."

Guess Aaryn forgot about the gay housemate she called a "queer" ... and all the Asian people she mocked ... and the African Americans ...