David Bowie has come to the aid of the Jena Six – six African-American teenagers in Louisiana who've been charged in an attack on a white classmate, following incidents where nooses were hung from trees in the school grounds.

The "Let's Dance" singer has donated AU$11,560 to the defence fund for the boys, believing their extreme sentences were racially motivated.

"There is clearly a separate and unequal judicial process going on in the town of Jena," Bowie said. "A donation to the Jena Six Legal Defence Fund is my small gesture, indicating my belief that a wrongful charge and sentence should be prevented."