I've found that racism that abounds in the story to be even more disturbing than in the previous times that I've read it. Previously, I completely missed that Scout has a great uncle--who she is forced to kiss--who fought for the Confederacy, and that he lectures them about how poorly the country has turned out. I had not noticed, or perhaps ignored, just how many people show absolute disdain for the Black citizens of their town.
Certainly, I remembered the Ewell's, Mrs. Dubose, Cecil Jacobs, Cousin Francis, and Aunt Alexandra; however, they had been in my mind an anomalies rather than the majority--or so I had misremembered it. Instead, the racism is much more pervasive than that. It's even shown in how far Calpurnia has to walk to get the Finch's house so early every morning--and is grateful for it. It's shown in the fact that the town's Black citizens are hardly mentioned at all outside of a couple of sections, despite likely being a massive portion of the population.
I can't help but think about our situation now, where people are upset that Black Americans are daring to protest. Like the citizens of Maycomb, they are only happy with our Black citizens if they are out of sight, or at least uncomplaining. That they are on friendly terms with a Black person or that a small percentage of Black Americans have been successful is enough to justify to them the misplaced belief that there is no racism or that there is no such thing as "white privilege."
The book was set over eighty years ago, but the societal elements discussed in them are bubbling to the surface in our society today. In fact, I find it deeply disturbing just how close some of the quotes from Maycomb's citizens sound to what I see posted by people I know. We should be better than this.