Yes `backticks` are banned since Python 3 because 1) They are hard to type many on common keyboard layouts 2) They are hard to read, especially in Python books.
I don't understand the hate for backticks either. I used to dislike them too, when I was just a hobby programmer, and used a Slovenian keyboard layout (even for programming). Needless to say, after switching to English layout, my programming skills quadrupled - ` isn't the only symbol barely accessible (without finger acrobatics) on international keyboards (other examples include: {}][|~\^ ).
I use backticks a lot when writing Markdown and Ruby code and it's easy to type (on a Mac keyboard at least) and is as easy to print as any other character.
