The Bay Area hip-hop icon tells TMZ ... he's sorry if he offended anyone with his words from 2020 during an IG Live chat between Saweetie and himself -- noting it wasn't his intention to come off favoring lighter-skinned Black people over darker-skinned folks.

You'll recall ... Short Dog told Saweetie he loved interracial relationships, and had actually only fallen in love with mixed women. He didn't say he wasn't into non-mixed Black women, per se, but many made that leap ... and claimed his remark was anti-Black.

Well, TS is here to set the record straight ... further explaining what he was touching on in his OG comments -- namely, that the Bay Area is very diverse and that race simply isn't at the forefront of many folks' minds there ... be it for hate, division or anything else.

There's another point from his Saweetie talk that he clears up with us as well ... saying beauty -- and ugliness, for that matter -- is found in ALL walks of life, regardless of skin tone or shade.

Important to say, because initially ... it sounded like he was implying only mixed babies come out looking gorgeous -- as opposed to, perhaps, Black infants or any other race of babies. That's not the case, though, as Too Short says here in clear terms.