I just found this in the _jlparticles.scss which I think is creating my problem,

//Force background color override Gantry5 Section Variations
.jl-background-default {
background-color: #fff !important;
}
.jl-background-muted {
background-color: #f8f8f8 !important;
}
.jl-background-primary {
background-color: $accent-color-1 !important;
}
.jl-background-secondary {
background-color: #222 !important;
}