The Emperor represents the archetype of Our Father In Heaven, the Patriarch. It is the embodiment of terrestrial and spiritual masculinity as its expressed with what humans think, believe, and do. 2020+ sensibilities are wary and critical of the way the energies of The Emperor have historically manifested in human culture. For me, at least, this has caused me to have a bias to push away people and projects that embody The Emperor which is a mistake because we all have an Emperor within and it deserves open-minded exploration.
Upright, the Emperor can represent a corporation or any kind of institution or person with power and influence derived from what they possess and distribute materially. The Magician creates something tangible from an idea; the Emperor wields power in tangible ways. This can be as a father, as a husband, as a boss, as an elected politician. They operate from a place of beneficial intention: whoever they love, they want to protect and provide for. They generally set a high bar of moral and standards- especially from themselves. The Emperor has a code of conduct and can represent conservative thinking but not consciously motivated by bigotry or "isms". Upright.
Reversed, the RWS Emperor embodies White Male Privilege at its worst. Sometimes it shows up in readings where the querent is struggling with some kind of financial obstacle like unemployment or underemployment, legal trouble, debt and beyond their immediate problem is the bigger issue of rampant socio-economic inequality. It can also show up in a self-reading where we (or someone we love) are/is consumed with outrage and are/is at risk of sabotaging some kind of relationship that brings us/them joy under different circumstances. This is a reversal that, when we see it in ourselves, we need to take a couple of deep breaths and start reflecting on how to fix or at least mitigate.
so I took him on. Also as an act of reconciliation with my own father who was an Aries and the embodiment of White Male Privilege 
But there is a lot to love in a good father archetype. Animal decks express this aspect better than human depictions.