Creating new link class

Im trying to create a new link class so the I can have an alturnative link/hover color.

Ive added this to my headinclude template:

.new A:link, .new A:visited, .new A:active {
color: #FFFFFF
background-color:"#000000";
text-decoration: underline;

}

.new A:hover {
color: #FF4400
background-color: #000000;
}

This new link class is sposed to be white normally and red when you hover over it.

And for example here's a link I would like to change to my "new" class from the forumhome template:

Welcome to our newest member, <a href="member.php?s=$session[sessionhash]&action=getinfo&userid=$newuserid"><class="new" > $newusername</a></class>

It doesant work.

Can anyone see why?