According to this transcription of Martin Luther King's I have a dream-address, he used negro 15 times in his speech, as a neutral word for black people.

Did/could "leading", documented non-racist, white people use negro in the same way around this time, as a neutral word for black Americans?

With "leading" I mean top politicians like LBJ and JFK, their ministers, governors and similar. With "documented non-racist" I mean for example LBJ and his support for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It is hard to pin down "documented non-racist" in a good way, but I am referring to people who no "reasonable" person ever would suspect having some dubious views regarding this matter.

An answer that includes references to specific speeches, interviews, articles and similar sources is appreciated.

I am curious about the historical usage of the word negro in different groups in society, hence my question.