In multiple instances, the article specifies “some,” not “all.” For example, this sentence: “This does not describe all small towns, and certainly not all people who love them.”

You’re making an analytical mistake: taking your experience in one example and assuming it describes all of them. In reality, there are thousands of small towns in America and they vary a lot. The relevant question for my argument is if localism manifests in discrimination in enough locations such that the ideology facilitates it. Obviously, it doesn’t manifest in discrimination everywhere.