Adjusting the active(?) background color of an ion-item

1

See the example code below:

<ion-list can-swipe="true">
    <ion-item class="item item-avatar" ng-click="">
        ....
    </ion-item>
</ion-list>

When you press down on the item it turns gray. I’ve tried everything I can think of to change this.

*:active
.item:active
.item-avatar:active
a:active
list:active
div:active
li:active
ul:active
.item-content:active

Using a remote debugging tool I found that the activated class causes this, BUT EVEN WITH THE DEBUGGING TOOL showing that I’ve overriden every occurrence it still turns gray

.item.activated, .item-content.activated, .item-complex.activated {
    background: white !important;
}

EDIT: After adding the above code, it flashes gray, then turns white again…
I just don’t know what to do.

EDIT AGAIN:

Finally got it, but this is really obsessive. Comments from ionic team?

.item.active, .item.activated, .item-complex.active .item-content, 
.item-complex.activated .item-content, .item .item-content.active,
.item .item-content.activated {
    background: white !important;
}

All of this is required to prevent it from turning gray on press.