Tia & Tamera Mowry recall being rejected by nineties teen mag cover for being ‘Black’

Sister, Sister alum Tia Mowry-Hardrict revealed how she and her identical twin sister Tamera Mowry-Housley were discriminated against during their nineties hey-day over their biracial background.

‘My sister and I wanted to be on the cover of this very popular [teen] magazine at the time,’ the 42-year-old former child star told ET’s Unfiltered on Wednesday.

‘We were told that we couldn’t be on the cover of the magazine because we were Black and we would not sell. I will never forget that. I will never forget where I was, and I wish I would have spoken up.   

‘I wish I would have said something then. I wish I would have had the courage to speak out and say that wasn’t right.’

Luckily, the Mowry sisters’ mother Darlene taught them what it meant to be a ‘strong, confident, beautiful Black woman.’

‘She used to always tell us, “Do not let this business define who you are,”‘ Tia noted.

‘”Don’t let something like that tell you who you are, and tell you what your value is. Because it’s not true.”‘  

The Family Reunion actress passed this confidence and self-worth down to her two children – son Cree, 9; and daughter Cairo, 2 – with her husband of 12 years, The Outpost action star Cory Hardrict.

‘I’m always telling my beautiful brown-skinned girl that she is beautiful, and the same thing even with my son. I tell him how handsome he is, I tell him, you know, he is smart,’ Tia explained.

‘Because I know what it feels like for someone to devalue your worth, and I don’t want my children to ever, ever, ever, feel that. And not have the strength, or the foundation, to not believe it. To believe that they are worthy.’

From ages 15 through 20, the German-born Army Brats starred in the successful sitcom, which aired for six seasons spanning 1994-1999 on ABC and The WB.  

Thanks to Netflix, younger generations can now stream all 119 episodes of Sister, Sister.

Mowry-Hardrict’s ‘dream’ came true August 28 when she closed a ‘three-picture deal with the A+E network to star in and produce three holiday movies for their It’s a Wonderful Lifetime slate.’

Meanwhile, the Daytime Emmy winner announced on July 13 that she quit Fox’s The Real following seven years as co-host of the all-female panel talk show.