During the mid-to-late 1980s, the area that Walker High School served went from white middle-class neighborhoods to black middle-class neighborhoods. Since Walker was named after a Confederate Civil War General, it was deemed appropriate to rename the school. It was renamed McNair High School in 1987 (there are two McNair High Schools and two McNair Middle Schools in Atlanta) after the black astronaut Ronald E. McNair, who died in the explosion of the Space Shuttle "Challenger" on January 28, 1986. The school colors and mascots were changed from the crimson and silver Walker Warhawks to the red and silver McNair Mustangs.