In Chapter 8, does Scout use any words that would be considered racist?

Yes. In Chapter 8, Maycomb experiences an unusually cold winter, and the county gets a light dusting of snow. Scout and Jem decide that they will try to build a snowman. Seeing that there is hardly enough snow to construct an entire snowman, Jem improvises and begins to mix mud and snow together. The children gather as much snow from Maudie's yard as they can, along with buckets of dirt, and construct an odd-looking snowman. Scout comments,

"Jem, I ain't ever heard of a nigger snowman" (Lee 89).

There are several instances throughout the novel when Scout uses the racial slur "nigger." Although Scout is unaware of the drastic weight the word "nigger" carries, she uses it to describe the dark- colored snowman. In 1930s Alabama, it was commonplace to refer to an African American as a "nigger." As the novel progresses, various people refer to Scout's father as a "nigger lover," and she finally asks Atticus what the term means. Atticus tells his daughter that "nigger lover" is a term that ignorant people use when they feel that someone is favoring Negroes. The term "nigger" is a racist term, and Scout uses it casually to describe the snowman she and Jem build in Chapter 8.