JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
HTML
<ul>
<li class="leaf first active-trail"><a href="/trash-this" id="specialIDTest" class="first active" title="">specialTest</a>
</li>
</ul>
CSS
.active-trail {
background-color:white;
}
JavaScript
$('#specialIDTest').parent().css('color', 'red');