SUPERSTITIONS.BIZ
Superstitions from around the world . . . what brings good luck . . . what brings bad luck?
SUPERSTITION: STEPPING ON A CRACK
Description: Step on a crack, break your mother's back
Origin: Possibly United States
The origin of this superstition may be from a fear that a crack in the ground is an entry point to the grave and the underworld. But a story holds that the children's rhyme has a racist origin that has been sanitised by history: the claim goes that the original version of the rhyme was 'step on a crack, your mother is black.' Sadly this explanation makes about as much sense as any other.