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I think it depends on why it's making me uncomfortable. I enjoyed the Barbra Hambly "Benjamin January" series, with deals with an educated black man with medical training in New Orleans in the 1830's. The discrimination is relentless and brutal. But I ended up loving the character and it was worth 'experiencing' his stories.
The past was what it was, and I think the stories of how people dealt with it can be worth the stuggle to get through the ugly parts.
One thing I've seen that makes me uncomforable is what I call torture porn. Where the author focuses many scenes and much detail on the scenes where rape and/or torture are preformed. Where it's no longer feeling like a way to get across all the harsh and subltle nuances of such a scene, but feels like it's 'reveling' in it. A torture scene from the villain's POV is especially troubling when the author seems to just have the scene there to portray the villain's glee and emotional satisfaction in the torture.
It's not happened often, but I've quit books at that point. I think it's a lot more problem in fanfic.
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