Mike Johnson -- one of the few black men who tried to woo Hannah Brown on "The Bachelorette" -- says her use of the n-word was outta line, and he'd love to teach her a lesson.
Mike tells TMZ ... "What Hannah did was unacceptable. Issues like this bring light to the bridge of pop culture and racism within our country." He goes on to explain, "I'm inviting her and everyone to a conversation, in hopes to educate everyone that this type of behavior needs to be changed and is unacceptable. My aim is that in this moment we don't divide, we come together, learn from this and create change for the better."
He also tells us that on Sunday -- when he first addressed the scandal on social media -- he had not seen the video of Hannah dropping the word while reciting DaBaby's "Rockstar" lyrics.
Welp, he has now and he's got strong feelings. His response is a balanced mix between what Rachel Lindsay had to say, and what another one of Hannah's exes, Tyler Cameron, said as well.
Some people called Mike out initially for not backing up Rachel -- who's also African-American -- but he put that matter to bed ASAP.
ICYMI, Rachel -- the first black 'Bachelorette' -- didn't seem satisfied with Hannah's apology, and she went in on her and anyone who isn't black using the n-word, even if it's in song. Tyler was more forgiving, saying we outta use this as a teachable moment.
It appears Mike is splitting the difference, but it's obvious he thinks re-education is needed on Hannah's part. That's huge, considering Mike was a fan fave and reportedly in the running to be the series' first black 'Bachelor.' He still might be, in fact.
BTW, Mike says he never experienced any type of racist behavior or language from Hannah during his time on her season.