以下为摘自GRE阅读 No.7-3 B 的一段话，因为对short of 的用法不很清楚，所以文意看不大懂
It is true that before the 1660’s Black people were rarely called slaves. But this should not overshadow evidence from the 1630’s on that points to racial discrimination without using the term slavery. Such discrimination sometimes stopped short of lifetime servitude or inherited status—the two attributes of true slavery—yet in other cases it included both. The Handlins’ argument excludes the real possibility that Black people in the English colonies were never treated as the equals of White people.
Such discrimination sometimes stopped short of lifetime servitude or inherited status—the two attributes of true slavery—yet in other cases it included both.
不知这部分应当如何解释？
short of 在这里可以当"缺少"解吗？
请给予一些指点，谢谢！ | 
