[SOLVED] Blockquote styling doesn't seem to work

I'm using 3.3 and the instruction is to use the b-quote button in visual mode in the WP editor. I'm on 2.8 WP and there is only a b-quote button in the html mode. And the quote always comes out black text with a white background. (my blog has a black background).

Any idea of how I can simply set the blockquote style under the blockquote tab and then be able to apply it in the WP editor???