James Charles says he shouldn't have hit out at a desperate person asking for help ... admitting he let his privilege get to him in a vulnerable mea culpa.

Here's the deal ... on Friday, James posted a video in which he described a DM he got from someone who said they were laid off from Spirit Airlines and needed some money.

In the video, the influencer tells this person to go get a job -- not to copy and paste a DM to different celebs asking for a handout.

Charles says this person doesn't follow him ... and, if she doesn't support him, then there's no reason for him to support her.

It's an angry tirade ... and, James was quickly blasted for posting it -- so much so, he clearly realized he needed to offer an apology.

In the apology, Charles is much calmer ... admitting he doesn't know why this message triggered him so much.

He says he knows he got lucky when he blew up from his makeup tutorials ... which allows him a certain freedom many others don't have -- and he never should've used that to insult this woman asking for help.

In fact, Charles says he knows friends who are desperately searching for work ... and, he says he shouldn't have made it seem job opportunities are growing on trees.